Tablets and Prophecies
by Airam4u
Summary: A Tablet is discovered on another planet by SG1, could it change everything? Can an Immortal really save the galaxy? Crossover btw Highlander and Stargate SG1.
1. Prologue When

**Tablets and Prophecies**

Can one man really save the planet? Have millions of years of events worked in concert to bring us to this? Can one Tablet really change the course of history? Highlander crossover.

Disclaimer:Stargate SG-1 characters (Daniel, Jack, Sam, Teal'c, etc.) do not belong to me. They belong to Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Products. Highlander characters (Duncan, Methos, Amanda, Joe, etc) do not belong to me. They belong to Panzer/Davis, Rysher/Gaumont Television. This story was fabricated by myself for purely entertainment purposes, no infringement is meant as I have the utmost respect for the series creators, writers, producers, and actors.

Category: Drama. This story is very character driven… But there is definitely some action, tension, suspense, in addition to being a bit philosophical. And for the heck of it, I may throw in a little romance towards the end.

Rating: PG-13, there may be some mildly foul language in a few places.

Timeline: This story starts in August of 2003. For the most part I have used the year a season aired as the actual year it occurred, give or take a few months (except for the last season of Highlander). Stargate SG-1, this story begins during Season 7. After Grace but before Chimera (don't know how Fallout would fit in because I never saw it… regardless I don't think that episode will have any bearing) Highlander, this is about five years after the series ended. I have decided to also incorporate what happened in the film 'Highlander: Endgame,' which takes place during the summer of 2002.

So to provide an overview of relevant events in both worlds  
Stargate: First trip to Abydos 1996. Beginning of season 1 Fall 1997. Season 7 Fall 2003.  
Highlander: Beginning of Season 1 1992. End of Season 5 Spring 1997. Season 6 Spring-Summer 1998. Movie Endgame Summer 2002.

Spoilers: Stargate up through and including Season Seven. I also borrow a few things learned from Stargate Atlantis, mainly from the pilot episode. Highlander the entire series and the movie Endgame is fair game.

Author's Notes: So this is actually the first piece of Stargate FanFic I ever wrote, and I decided to make it difficult on myself by making it a crossover with Highlander. This is a saga that has been many months in the making and I am finally comfortable with it enough to actually start posting it. I would like to send my deepest heartfelt gratitude to Jo and Ruth, who were gracious enough to take the time to Beta this story for me!

I actually have most of this story written, just working on filling in some gaps and adding some more to the mix :)

I would really appreciate anything you have to say about this story. Do you like it? Why? Do you hate it? Why? Reviews are great and serve as wonderful inspiration in the development and tweaking of a story. So please, don't be shy! You don't see me shying away and not publishing this story!

* * *

_Prologue – When?_

**Earth **

"Can you imagine the possibilities?"

"I have not."

"Where's the cake?"

"Can you get me a beer as well?"

"You've got to be kidding me Daniel!"

"Mom!"

"Cassie, I mean it… Get off the phone!"

"George, do you remember the time in Japan right after we got promoted to Major?"

"Please don't remind me!"

"Jack, I'm serious!"

"You okay Sam?"

The small smile on Sam Carter's face momentarily disappeared, as she was startled from her thoughts by her dear friend, Janet Frasier.

Sam had been sitsting on the couch just content in listening to the conversations taking place around her. Real conversations between the people she was closest to on this planet, and the whole galaxy for that matter. These weren't figments of her imagination or hallucinations – they were real conversations about non-life threatening things. Drunken nights. Archaeological theory. Food. Boyfriends.

After spending what felt like weeks alone on the Prometheus, which, in reality, only lasted four days, she relished being in the company of her friends and family: her father, Jacob Carter; the SGC's base CO, General George Hammond; the SGC's Chief Medical Officer and her closest friend, Janet Frasier; Janet's adoptive alien daughter, Cassie Frasier; and her teammates, Colonel Jack O'Neill, Teal'c and Daniel Jackson.

"You okay Sam?" Janet asked again in concern.

Recognizing her friend in front of her, a smile returned to her face, "Yeah Janet… I'm okay."

"You sure?" Janet was still a little skeptical.

"I'm just lucky to have all you guys in my life," she reassured her. Sam recognized the questioning look on her friend's face and tried again to reassure her, "Honestly Janet… I just liked listening to you guys talk!"

Janet studied her friend and decided that they needed a more private environment to carry on their discussion. She angled her head towards the kitchen before standing up. Sam discreetly followed her to the kitchen.

Janet stopped in the kitchen, but Sam shook her head and led them out to the patio.

They observed the night in silence for a few minutes. Rather Sam observed the night and Janet observed her friend.

She finally broke the silence, "What really happened out there Sam?"

Sam lowered her head in resignation. She had to tell someone eventually. "While I was out there, I started to hallucinate…"

"Yes, you told me that…" Janet cautiously agreed.

She nodded her head, "But I never told you what they were about… I was having conversations with people… With my friends…"

Janet almost asked her who, ready to analyze what her subconscious had been trying to tell her. But she held back when she saw the struggle on Sam's face, she realized that she would tell her in her own time.

"I spoke with Daniel, Teal'c, my father, and…" Sam stopped herself before she said 'Jack.' "And with Colonel O'Neill."

Another silence settled on the friends.

"What'd they say?" she quietly asked.

Sam shrugged her shoulders with an uneasy smile, "You know, the usual… Get moving. Bugging me with questions… Go save yourself…"

As soon as she uttered those words she saw the multiple levels on which she could take that piece of advice.

"Sam?" Janet questioned when she saw her friend losing herself in her thoughts.

Sam looked at the petite brunette and sent her a smile in the hopes of appeasing her concerns.

After a few more moments of silence, Sam turned to her friend with a serious expression on her face. "Janet, do you think our fight against the Goa'uld will ever end?"

Janet rocked back on her heels. "I hope so."

"Do you think it'll be in our lifetimes?" As Sam waited for a response she begged her friend with her eyes for an honest response. But what she was really looking for was hope.

Janet looked at her friend sadly, "I don't know Sam… Every week I think we're getting closer to defeating the Goa'uld… And then the next week we learn of another System Lord."

Sam nodded her head, she knew her friend was right. Who knew when the war was going to be over? "We keep winning battles but the war still goes on."

"Yeah."

Sam looked up at the stars and imagined how many of them were suns to planets they had visited. She was always amazed by the night sky, and now that she had traveled across the galaxy, her awe was only stronger and deeper. Before she had merely been amazed at the fact that she was seeing two times at once. Looking around at the surface she lived and felt the present, but when she saw a star twinkle she knew that something had happened hundreds if not thousands of years earlier. Now when she looked up she knew that there was in fact life out there, it was no longer speculation.

What made Earth so lucky to have been able to go on for so long with out the threat of the Goa'uld attacking? What had made them forget that it was on this planet that the Goa'uld had taken humans as hosts? Made them forget that Earth was their original culling ground for populating the galaxy with humans?

Not that she was complaining, but in their journeys they had seen so much suffering and struggle because of the Goa'uld. She felt so lucky to be from Earth.

But were they lucky now?

Eight years ago, they had opened a Pandora's Box of sorts. And since then they had been fighting a war across the galaxy. A war that most of the inhabitants on this planet knew nothing about.

As she thought about it, a part of her envied those people. They lived their lives and made their own decisions on how to live. They didn't worry about the impending doom of the planet. Their concerns were limited to the safety of their family and what they would have to do to provide for them.

She wasn't so lucky. In her tenure with the SGC she had had the fate of the planet relying on her intellect and ingenuity. She worked and sacrificed so that the other six billion people on the planet would have one less thing to worry about, and have the opportunity to live another day without the fear of slavery or total annihilation. That was her duty.

And it cost her. And all those around her at the SGC had also sacrificed so much on behalf of their planet. On behalf of the future of their planet.

"Are we kidding ourselves thinking that we can take on the Goa'uld? I mean we've only been fighting them for less than eight years. What makes us think that we can do what no one else in the galaxy has been able to do in over ten thousand years?"

TBC


	2. Conversations

A/N: I posted the prologue when FF's email alerts were down. So make sure you go back and read that chapter!

* * *

_Chapter 1 - Conversations_

SGC

Once again, please let me know what you think.

"Anyway, I'm sorry. But that just happens to be the way I feel about it ... What do you think?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at the younger archaeologist in front of him as the spoonful of Fruit Loops was on its way to his own mouth. He looked around and verified that Teal'c was in fact sitting next to him and that this was not them reliving the time loop – just another case of deja-vu.

Instead of answering Daniel's question he turned to Teal'c, "You been working on your golf swing lately?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at his brother in arms. "I have not." He then quietly returned to his plate of pancakes.

"Jack!" Daniel half whined.

Sam tried to hide her amusement in the situation.

Catching her half smile, Jack stared at her as he remembered the happy moments from the time loops.

Under his intense far off look while staring at her, Sam became slightly uncomfortable. "So Daniel…"

Daniel turned to Sam and shook his head, "No. I want to know what Jack thinks about it… Jack?"

"Daniel… Honestly…" Jack began slowly, as he returned his attention to Daniel, hoping that he would remember what the discussion was about.

"Yes?" Daniel asked expectantly.

Jack stared back at him with a lost look. "About what?"

"Jack!"

"Seriously, I don't remember!" he defended himself.

Sam chose that moment to go get some desert instead of laughing in front of her friends and hurting someone's feelings.

"Carter!"

Sam turned back expectantly.

"Can you get me some cake?"

She smiled back, "Yes sir."

"Jack…"

He rolled his eyes as he looked back at his friend, "What?"

"What do you think about us revisiting some of our allies and seeing how things are going?"

"Why?"

"Jack, weren't you paying attention to anything I said earlier?"

A blank look was his only response. Daniel lowered his head in defeat. When would he ever be able to have a conversation with Jack O'Neill and actually maintain his attention?

Pleased that he didn't have to answer the question, Jack turned to Teal'c. "Hey, you want to go work out later?"

Teal'c turned his head and bowed, "Indeed."

"Excellent!… Excellent!" he called out again when Sam placed his piece of cake in front of him. "So you guys want to come over tonight?"

"You grilling, sir?"

He raised his hand to his heart in shock, "Would I dare do anything else?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

Daniel turned to Sam and whispered, "Not after the pizza incident."

"Hey! We agreed never to mention that again!" Jack reminded them as all three of his teammates smirked as they recalled the incident in question.

ooo

"Hmff!… Ow…" Jack slowly drawled out as he lay on his back with his eyes shut.

When he did open them his friend and sparring partner was standing over him. "Are you not well O'Neill?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I've lost track how many times you've thrown me down today… How do you think I feel?"

"That is why I am asking."

Jack glared at Teal'c and momentarily hated his limited understanding and use of sarcasm. Jack finally sought his assistance and held his hand up.

Teal'c bowed his head and gave Jack a hand. "Do you wish to continue?"

Jack snapped his head at Teal'c, popping his neck and back in the process. He placed his hands on the offending back and neck and helped work out the kinks even further.

Teal'c, who was patiently waiting for a response, raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior of his friend.

"Let's go sit down," Jack suggested as he started walking to the benches.

As he lowered himself his knee popped again, reminding him how old he felt. "I'm getting to old for this stuff…" he mused.

"I am over twice your age."

Jack turned to his friend, "Yeah… But in Jaffa years, I'm like older than Bratac!"

Teal'c nodded in agreement.

"Hey, no need to agree so readily!"

The corners of his lips remained still, but his eyes betrayed his amusement at the conversation. "You are a true warrior and a worthy opponent…" Teal'c paused before speaking again, "There are few in the galaxy who could stand up to the Goa'uld as successfully as you do, O'Neill."

"Thanks T… But, I don't do it alone… I got you guys covering my back!"

"Indeed."

Jack chuckled at Teal'c's favorite phrase. "So how's Rya'c?"

Jack actually noticed that Teal'c smiled with pride before continuing, "He is doing well. Bra'tac has informed me that Rya'c's training is progressing quite rapidly… His mind is very sharp and he has an eye for strategy in battle…"

"The smaller you are, the smarter you have to be," Jack commented.

Teal'c turned, "He is still growing and adding muscle mass every day… One day he will be as big as me."

"Scary thought…" Jack mumbled as he wiped his hands dry and headed for the showers. "Hey don't you ever get tired of wiping the mat with me?" he called back over his shoulder.

Jack took a few more steps before he realized that Teal'c hadn't answered. He stopped and turned back. He waited the few seconds for Teal'c to catch up.

Teal'c stopped when he was alongside but continued looking ahead as he pondered his answer. He revealed his answer confidently, "I do not." Teal'c then continued ahead and left a shocked friend and Air Force Colonel behind.

ooo

"Hey!"

"You're late!" Jack told her as he opened the door. When he had the door fully open he saw that Sam was in a state of shock. "Hey," he reached his hand out to lead her in, "You okay?"

She slowly blinked her eyes and looked at him. "Yeah… just a little… shaken…"

"What happened?" he asked her in a voice laced with concern. He led her over to the couch.

"Sam, thank God you're… What happened?" Daniel asked as he rushed to her side.

"I was on my way here and I… I watched it all happen in front of me…"

Jack and Daniel shared a concerned look with each other. "What happened, Sam?" Daniel quietly questioned her.

"There was a car accident and-"

"You're okay?" both men blurted out as they quickly looked over her body to make sure that she wasn't physically harmed.

She silently nodded before explaining what had happened. "I'm fine… but… The car in front of me was hit by a drunk driver… It was a family…"

Both men just watched her, not really understanding why she was so upset.

"There was a little girl… She was pretty badly injured…" she vacantly told them. Visions of Grace from her hallucinations kept popping into her mind.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Daniel tried to reassure her.

Sam looked into his eyes, "It was almost me."

Both men before her were confused. "Sam, I don't understand."

"I was at the intersection and going to turn right. But I waved them to go ahead… At the next light they were hit by the drunk driver who ran a red light… I saw the whole thing."

"You can't blame yourself for what-"

"I don't," she quickly looked up at her CO. "I know it wasn't my fault… It was the drunk driver's fault… But part of me is just… It's… I can't explain it…"

Jack watched her expressions and listened to her. "I get it," he told her softly.

She looked into his eyes for true understanding.

"Why do you get to live?"

Sam slowly nodded her head as her eyes started to glisten with tears. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Carter you can't ask questions like that… It'll eat you up inside…"

As she listened to him, she knew that he really did understand. Both the men in front of her who were supporting her understood.

"I know," she quietly relented. "It's all just so happenstance… A simple act of courtesy costs a family…"

"No Sam… A man drinking too much and getting behind the wheel of a car cost a family," Daniel explained. "You know you can't think about the 'What if?'s…"

Sam nodded in agreement, "Yeah…"

"You going to be okay Carter?"

She turned to look at her CO and smiled warily. "I will be, sir. I'm here."

He smiled back at her, "Yeah you are," he told her, grateful as well.

TBC


	3. Needing Help

A/N: Cue Highlander characters...

* * *

_Chapter 2 - Needing Help_

P3X-4C1

'Trees! Why does every planet we gate to have to have so many damned trees?' the Air Force officer asked himself as he took another cursory look into the forest surrounding the remains of what appeared to be a temple.

He'd already done several sweeps of the area and was starting to get bored. He looked up at the sun and tried to gauge what time it was. He stopped himself shortly thereafter when he realized that he didn't know how long the days were, where the sun rose from, or what season of year they were in on this planet on the other side of the galaxy from their home planet.

Instead, he looked down at his watch and was relieved to see what time it was. He headed inside to round up his troops.

"So, are we all done here?"

Colonel Jack O'Neill waited impatiently for a response.

"Daniel!"

The young archaeologist looked up at the sound of his name. "Yeah?"

He sighed, "Are you almost done?"

"Uh… no, actually I'm not."

"Too bad, we gotta head back," he informed him.

Daniel Jackson glared at his team leader, "Jack, I'm not done here yet."

"You got pictures though," Jack reminded him.

"Well, yes, but do you realize the significance of these writings?"

Col. Jack O'Neill turned to Dr. Daniel Jackson with a rhetorical expression, did he ever understand the mumbo jumbo that the characters were?

"Okay, bad question… But from what I gather it talks about the Ancients and Earth… Our Earth Jack!" he added for emphasis

"Is the significance of the writings going to change if you translate them here or back on Earth?" he asked him pointedly, he really wanted to get home and they had a four mile hike back to the gate.

Daniel looked at his team leader, not wanting to admit defeat so readily.

"Yeah, that's what I thought… Just get your final pictures in and let's head back, the General's waiting."

Daniel and Major Samantha Carter shared a familiar look with each other before completing their recordings of the ancient walls.

* * *

**  
SGC**  
A few weeks later 

"What you working on?"

A startled Daniel looked up from his books that were sprawled across his workbench. Returning his attention to the book in front of him he answered, "The translations from P3X-4C1."

"Where?" Jack asked trying to be difficult and distracting Daniel.

Daniel however was used to Jack's antics and without looking up answered him, "The planet we went to a few weeks ago."

"Right… So, any luck on those 'significant' writings?"

"No, nothing at all," he answered ignoring Jack's attempts at distraction.

Disappointed that he wasn't really getting any sort of response from his friend he continued on until he received any type of animated response. "Tell me what you have so far."

That caught Daniel's attention as he looked up and stared at his friend. Jack never wanted to know details as he was working on a project, he always wanted the simplified version once the translation was done. "Excuse me?" he asked him shocked at what seemed to be interest from an unlikely source.

"What have you got so far?" he reiterated his request.

The archaeologist squinted his eyes as he studied the seasoned soldier. "Are you that bored?" he asked him hoping that was the reason so he wouldn't have to call security to take Jack to the infirmary to make sure he wasn't affected by any foreign substance.

"Teal'c is doing his kel-no-thingy and Carter wanted me to help her with an experiment," he explained as he placed his hands on the workbench.

Daniel smirked at the last comment. Their other teammate had informed him once that whenever he started playing with one of her pieces of equipment and really distracting her from getting any work done, she asked him if he could help her out with a test, usually resulting in him suddenly remembering that he had some paperwork to fill out.

Daniel sighed as he decided to indulge his friend, "It seems to be a combination of so many languages I know, and yet different from them all. The combination of symbols doesn't seem to have any flow to them. Part of it looks like story art, while others look like a script… I'm hitting a brick wall here." Daniel fell into his chair and pulled off his glasses in exasperation.

"Then what makes you think it's so important?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the logical question from Jack. Remembering that Jack wasn't as dumb as he acted, he explained what he had uncovered. "Because of a few of the markings. Here, look at these symbols Jack." Daniel stood up and led Jack to the tablets he had set out on another large workbench and pointed towards the top of the tablet. "Look, this symbol up here is a snake, and here it is again, except the snake is wrapped around a human."

"A snakehead? Goa'uld?"

"I think so because later on the human form is lying face down with the snake lying upon it. But the more interesting bit is down here at the end of the tablet… See this symbol, it's a circle with a horseshoe and a bar in it, I've seen it before; it seems to be a symbol for the Ancients. And next to it is the Stargate glyph for Earth- the pyramid with the sun. If you read a little more, you see the symbol for infinity, the horizontal eight. And towards the end you see the infinity symbol lying upon the snake."

Jack half paid attention to Daniel's explanation as another thought entered his mind. "Daniel, how do you know you're reading this in the right direction? How do you know it's not read from bottom to top or left…" he looked up when he felt Daniel's stare on himself. He looked around and cleared his throat as he tried to get back on track and looked at the symbols Daniel was indicating and then to Daniel. "Yeah, so?"

"Don't you see! It's some sort of story about the Goa'uld over powering humans. And then the Ancients, Earth, and this infinity symbol, where the infinity symbol overpowers the Goa'uld! They beat the Goa'uld, Jack! And I think that is what was used to drive the Goa'uld from our planet!"

"Sweet. What was it?"

"That's it Jack, I don't know… I don't know if it's a weapon, or-"

"Well it's obviously a weapon if it beat the Goa'uld. Where can we get ourselves one of those?"

"I don't know… I don't think I can do this on my own."

Jack looked up from the tablets again as he understood Daniel's subtle suggestion. "Oh no! Come on Daniel, this stuff is classified. It doesn't leave the SGC!"

"Come on Jack, we need to figure out what this says if we want to protect Earth, and I'm telling you that I need help!"

"Find another way," he ordered him

"I can't Jack, I've tapped out my resources!" he told him hating to have to admit defeat. He tried to calm himself down and took a deep breath before continuing with his argument, "This is like code breaking; you can either see the pattern and translate it or you can't. All I need is to bounce some ideas off someone else… In fact, I know the perfect guy."

Jack studied Daniel intently, he knew that if Daniel said he couldn't decipher the language then no one else affiliated with the military would be able to. "I'll take it up with General Hammond, but I can't promise anything. What's the guy's name?"

"His name is Adam Pierson. I met him at the Sorbonne ten-twelve years ago. I was giving a talk on my theories about the pyramids and during the Q&A section the other researchers attacked me with their criticisms. Afterwards, Adam comes up to me and sincerely congratulates me before walking away. I chased him down and asked him what he meant, he said that my talk was the first time he had heard someone say something that deviated from the popular theory. We became friends eventually and we ended up working together on a few projects. He has such a grasp of so many languages that sometimes he doesn't have to look up any of the symbols. He's one of the best in the field, and I think no one realizes it but me."

"Where is he?"

"I think he's in Paris now, I'm not sure. I lost touch with him when I joined the SGC."

"Right, then... I've got a meeting with General Hammond after SG-5 returns, meet me in his office at 1600 hours."

ooo

"Have you lost your mind Colonel? You want to take a copy of this tablet to a civilian for a translation? Have you and Dr. Jackson both lost your minds?" he asked as he looked between the two men standing in front of him.

Jack didn't really know what to say and so he deferred to Daniel who was standing behind him. "Sir, I know this is classified, but I can't figure this translation out, and I truly believe it is important for the survival of Earth against the Goa'uld." He then went on to explain what he had found in the symbols and their possible relevance.

After several minutes of explaining and arguing, General Hammond acquiesced.

"All right, you have permission to show this to Adam Pierson. I'm sending you both, but I want you to go as civilians. I don't want him to suspect anything military or classified, is that understood gentlemen?"

"Yes sir," they both rapidly replied.

"Oh and before you leave Colonel, I want you to do a background check on Adam Pierson. Make sure he doesn't have any red flags on his file."

As the two men left his office he watched their retreating forms. "I hope I don't regret this," he sighed as he returned to the multitude of paperwork that cluttered his desk.

* * *

**Paris, France  
**One Week later 

Adam Pierson was just about to leave his apartment and head over to his friend's bar when he heard his phone ring. He debated whether or not to answer it, after the second ring he answered the call.

"This is Adam."

"Adam? It's Daniel Jackson."

"Daniel, it's been a long time!" he began as he quickly recalled the voice and put a face to it. "I haven't heard from you in a few years, what happened? Did you fall off the face of the planet?" he teased.

Daniel couldn't help but smile at how close his friend really was to the truth, "No, I didn't fall off. I've just been doing some very interesting research."

"How is that going? Still trying to prove to everyone else that the pyramids were built by aliens?"

"No, not anymore really. That's actually why I was calling; I have something I'd like your help on. I've come across a language that I can't quite decipher. Do you think you could help me out?"

"For you, of course! It'll be like old times… working over a tablet or picture trying to find out what the old people thought was important enough to write down!"

"Thanks Adam, I really appreciate it. Are you free right now?"

"Are you in Paris now Daniel?"

"Yeah… I had a hunch that you wouldn't turn me down," he revealed.

"Your hunches were usually very good. How about we meet up for dinner first, I know a great blues bar in town."

"Actually, mind if we do this now? I'm really excited to know what it says."

"Come on Daniel, it's written in some ancient dead language, the meaning isn't going to change over dinner. Dinner will be on me Daniel. Trust me, you'll like the place."

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to get right to work and seeing the look on Jack's face at the idea of going to a blues bar, he decided to give in. "Since when do you treat? … All right, we'll grab dinner first. Where's this place?"

"Excellent! It's called Le Blues Bar, its on Rue Central and Rue Madeleine. Meet me there in an hour."

ooo

Dismissing the odd sensation he had just felt, he jumped up to greet his old friend as soon as he saw him walk in, "Daniel! It's been too long!"

The two embraced as they continued, "It's good to see you."

"The same to you." As he stepped back he noticed that Daniel had walked in with someone else. "And your friend is?"

At this point Jack took it upon himself to speak, "Jack O'Neill. Nice to meet you Adam, Daniel's told me a lot about you."

"Yes, well don't believe everything he says. Besides, I'm sure you know about his tribal dancing moves." Adam smiled as he spoke, sure that Daniel would not have divulged that bit of information to anyone who wasn't there.

Jack, shocked at Adam's hint, turned to Daniel and stared, "Tribal dancing moves?"

Daniel turned red as Jack smiled, he'd almost forgotten about that. "Uh yeah, well those were some wild times," he cringed, knowing that Jack wouldn't forget. "So how about we grab ourselves a table. It looks pretty packed though, maybe we should try somewhere else?" He suggested as he looked around the bar hoping to change the topic of conversation.

"Good thing I know the owner. Come on." He then led the two over to the bar to meet the owner. "Joe I'd like you to meet an old friend, Joe this is Daniel Jackson and his friend, Jack O'Neill. Gentlemen, I present to you Joe Dawson, bar owner and blues player extraordinaire." Handshakes were shared among the three as Adam explained his connection to Daniel.

"So Joe you got a table for me and my friends here?"

"There's always a place for you here old man! Without you as my customer I'd probably be broke!"

"Still a connoisseur of beer I assume? I swear you could drink anyone under the table." Jack, Daniel, and Adam then headed to the table that Joe had indicated for them. They ordered their dinners and some drinks as Daniel and Adam reminisced about the old times and discussed current work in the field of anthropology. Jack merely observed as he tried to get a feel for Adam. Overall he was developing a favorable disposition to Daniel's old friend. He was also getting bored watching Daniel and Adam go 'all technical' and discuss different theories, something he never really found all that interesting.

Once their food arrived, Adam realized that Jack hadn't said much of anything thus far. "So Jack, how do you know Daniel? Are you a fellow anthropologist?"

Jack laughed at the thought, "No. I'm more of an explorer. I like to go out into the field and do the searching, more so than the theorizing."

"But without the theories you can't possibly have a clue at what exactly you have found."

"Adam, don't even bother. I've tried to get him to understand that since we started working together."

"I find what I find out in the field a lot more interesting than reading the theories you guys come up with and print."

"Yes, but if you don't really know what it is you have found, then have you really found anything more than a paperweight? For example, if you went to a dig and came across a box settled on an altar filled with unknown markings on the walls, what have you found? Sure, anyone will assume that the box has some religious connotations or was highly revered. But if you don't really know what it was and what it was used for, the object has merely become a really old paperweight," he pointed out as he picked up the peppershaker and set it down on his napkin.

"But, if you had read the inscriptions on the wall and understood them, you would have come to learn that the box contained the ashes of a king and anyone who tried to open the box would suffer a terrible death as they released an unknown biological agent," he went on as he poured some pepper into his hand and blew it at Jack's face.

As Jack rubbed at his irritated nose trying to get the pepper out, Adam made his final point, "You see Jack, knowing what you have found is a lot safer and rewarding than just finding something."

Jack didn't really know how to respond to that, especially since it made sense and especially the fact that events like that had already happened to SG-1. "Well that's why I take Daniel here with me."

"Yes, well then, I hope he stops you before you open Pandora's Box sometime." Where did Daniel find this guy? How could he work with someone who didn't respect the culture and history of the things they discovered? Adam decided that there was more to Jack than what he was saying. The man wasn't a part of some archaeological exploration team he concluded.

Before they could carry the discussion any further Joe Dawson took the stage and treated them to over an hour of his musical stylings, much to the crowd's pleasure.

Once the first set was over, Daniel hinted at the work he had been doing and why he was in town. He told Adam that they had come across some writings by chance while in the Gaza Strip and hadn't notified anyone for fear that any discovery would lead to a dispute over the rights.

"The bloody idiots! If they only realized what a treasure chest they were standing on… So do you have an etching or picture of the writings with you? Let me take a quick once over before we head back to my place and really study this."

"Yeah I have one right here. Thanks for doing this Adam, I really appreciate it." He then pulled out an 8x10" picture of the tablet and held it out to Adam.

"Some of the symbols look similar to others I've seen, but it seems like a combination of writing styles from pictographs to a phonetic script and that's…"

Daniel paused as he saw the look of recognition pass over Adam's face as he studied the picture.

Jack also saw the change in Adam's face and became very interested as he straightened in his chair and leaned forward. "Do you know what it says?"

Adam's mind pulled up long forgotten knowledge of a language he hadn't seen in several thousand years. He continued to scan the image translating what it was saying as he read. Once he finished reading the script he remembered that he had an audience and changed his face to appear clueless. "Uh sorry, I can't." He offered the excuse to quickly get out of the situation and make an urgent phone call.

"Come on Adam, I saw your face when you looked at it. You recognized something?" Daniel was getting excited as he thought that he would figure this out with Adam's help. He didn't wonder though how and why he could easily read the tablet.

"Sorry guys, I can't help you out. I just remembered something, if you'll excuse me." Adam stood up and hurried over to speak to Joe. After conversing for a short while he then headed into Joe's office to make a phone call.

Jack and Daniel sat dumbfounded as they tried to figure out what had just happened. "For crying out loud, where's he going Daniel?"

"How the hell should I know? He understood what that tablet says, and whatever it says got him spooked. What are we going to do?"

"We're going to ask him what it says. Come on." The two started to head to Joe's office when it opened and Adam walked out. "What's going on?"

"I have to leave. An emergency just came up. I wish I could help you with the translation Daniel, but I don't know what it says."

"Adam, don't lie to me. I saw it in your face, what's it say?"

Adam ignored his old friend's question and started to walk past them. Jack grabbed his arm, "Hey, look, we need this translated."

At that moment, Adam knew that Jack was not an archeologist, but more likely government. "Excuse me, but you will remove your hand. Like I said, I have an emergency I have to attend to." Adam stared back into Jack's eyes conveying his seriousness.

Daniel meanwhile watched the silent exchange and was starting to worry that a fight would erupt between the two.

After a tense minute Jack backed down and released his grip on Adam's arm. "Gentlemen have a safe trip back to the States," and with that being said, he turned and walked out of the blues bar.

"What are we going to do Jack?" Daniel asked as he turned to look at Jack.

As Jack led Daniel out of the bar, he pulled out his phone. "We're going to follow him. Come on." Once they were outside he called up the SGC. "Carter, I need you to do a full background check on Adam Pierson. Find out anything you can on this guy, go deep… He knows something and he's not sharing…I'll call you back when we have more information."

TBC

What do you think?


	4. Impasse

**_Chapter 3 - Impasse_**

**Seacouver**  
Two days later

"So what do you want to do tonight?"

"Well there's this Star Trek marathon on tonight that I wanted to watch." He casually suggested as he popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.

"Duncan!"

Duncan MacLeod turned to Amanda and gave her a wicked smile as he approached her. "That is of course, unless you wanted to do something else tonight?" he asked her with a gleam in his eye.

Instead of replying she merely closed the distance between them and passionately kissed him.

She never exactly knew why she was so attracted to Duncan, he was so young and such a Boy Scout. Maybe that was why… he was honest and respected her, despite her forays into illegal activities.

After she broke the kiss off she whispered into his ear, "How about something along these lines?"

"I could live with that. Should we finish dinner fi-…" The two straightened as soon as they felt the presence of another Immortal approaching. "Are you expecting anyone?"

"No. You?"

"No. Wait here, I'll be right back."

That was another thing she loved about him, his loyalty to his friends, he would always protect them.

Duncan grabbed his Katana sword before taking the stairs to his dojo one floor down. As he entered the practice floor he announced his presence, "I am Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod."

"And it's just me Duncan. Put your sword down, I need to talk to you."

"Damn it, Methos! Have you ever heard of a phone?" he asked him as he waved his sword at Methos' head.

"Yeah… well this was a surprise visit… Well, are you going to just stand there or invite me up?"

Duncan eyed Methos before leading him upstairs. "You've got bad timing my friend. I was just about to have a lovely evening."

When the unannounced visitor saw Amanda he realized that he really had come at a bad time. Oh well, this was more important than that. He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek, "Amanda."

"Methos." She wondered how long he would be there this time; she had been looking forward to her evening with Duncan. "Can we offer you something to drink or eat?"

"A beer, thanks Amanda. I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, but we've got something bigger to deal with."

Duncan was shocked, what could the survivor Methos be concerning himself about. "What is it Methos?"

"Have you ever heard of the Goa'uld?"

ooo

Across the street Jack, Daniel, and Major Sam Carter looked up startled at what their parabolic listening device had picked up. "Did he just say Goa'uld?"

"Damn it! He did understand the tablet's writing! Come on we're going in right now."

"Jack we can't, we don't have the authority."

"Daniel, I don't have time for this. This is about national security! Let's go."

ooo

"Ramirez once told Connor about them. All he said was to beware the Goa'uld. Connor thought it was another Immortal, not some alien life form. You've got to be kidding me though, right? There are no aliens here on earth!"

"Come on MacLeod! I was there when the Goa'uld came to Earth. I helped fight them back. I saw them leave through a large ring and disappear! Who says there aren't aliens here on Earth, how do you explain us? There's something different about us, and from what I understood from the tablet they showed me, some of us were placed on this Earth by some people who called themselves the Ancients. Do you remember anything else he said?"

"Methos, Connor never told me directly. All I know is what I remember from taking his Quickening." He paused as he recalled the unfortunate circumstances when he had been forced to kill his kinsman to destroy Kell. "Ramirez told Connor that Stonehenge would be important in the battle. He didn't elaborate anymore, at least I don't think so."

"Duncan, we need to know what Ramirez-" Methos was interrupted as he felt someone approaching. All three of them felt it- it was similar to the buzz they felt by a pre-Immortal and a full Immortal.

"What is that?"

They all looked at each other unsure what they were feeling when the door was broken down as Daniel, Jack, and Sam raced in, the latter two with their hand guns drawn.

The shocked Immortals looked at each other and then at the intruders. Duncan and Amanda feared that they were another set of rogue Watchers out for the heads of Immortals. "Everybody stay where they are!"

"Daniel, what the hell are you doing?" Methos yelled at him. "Did you follow me here?"

"Look we just need to know what you read in that tablet."

Amanda spoke up next, "Just who the hell do you guys think you are?"

At that moment the phone rang, momentarily distracting Sam and Jack. Duncan and Methos, who both had their swords at hand, took advantage of the situation.

Methos attacked Jack, and Duncan took on Sam. They were both able to disable the SG-1 members using a strong upward swing of their blades making contact with the flat side of their blade against their wrists. Just before Jack had his gun knocked out of his hand, an errant shot went off.

With the blades at Sam and Jack's necks, the SG-1 team conceded defeat as they raised their empty hands up.

A worried Daniel exclaimed, "Christ, Jack, you shot her!"

The two Immortals kept their eyes on their hostages, "Amanda?"

They watched as Amanda sat up on the floor slowly, "I hate it when that happens. I'm going to kill that guy, he ruined one of my favorite shirts!"

The Immortals returned their attention to their charges as the SG-1 team members watched Amanda heal, moving about as if nothing had happened.

The scientist in her wanting to get a closer look, Sam offered her services. "I have some medical experience, that wound needs to be checked out."

"So do I, and she's fine. Now all of you get over there by the bed," Methos ordered them.

Once they were relatively alone, the Immortals gathered and spoke to each other quietly, "What are we going to do? They saw me heal pretty instantly."

On the other side of the room SG-1 held a conference of their own, "What the hell just happened? I did just shoot her, didn't I?"

Sam was the first to find her voice, "Yes sir. She had a pool of blood forming under her - coming from her side. I don't know how or what just happened, but there were electrical currents racing over her injury. I can't explain it sir. I've never seen anything like it."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought the Goa'uld were freaky, but that is the strangest thing I have ever seen. Any thoughts Daniel?"

"None… we need to talk to them!" Daniel then left his fellow team members as he approached his old colleague. "Adam?"

"Daniel wait!" Jack quietly exclaimed. "I hate it when he does that!" he told Carter as they followed Daniel to back him up.

"Adam, we just want to talk."

"Talking does not involve breaking and entering with guns drawn Mister…?"

"Jackson, I'm Daniel Jackson. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter," he told them as he pointed back at his friends. "We just want to know about the tablet."

Methos was shocked to hear the military titles - what had Daniel gotten himself into?

"Yeah? Well your Colonel there did more than talk! He shot me!" Amanda cried out.

Feeling that this was a good time to step in, Jack spoke up. "Yeah, sorry about that. Doesn't seem to really matter though does it, you look fine to me."

Amanda became incensed with her smug shooter and started to charge him before being held back by Duncan.

Daniel spoke up before Jack could get anything else in to anger their hosts any further. "We just want to know what you translated from the tablet and what you know about the Goa'uld?"

"Daniel that is classified!"

Methos became intrigued about what he saw transpire between Daniel and Jack. "I thought you couldn't read the tablet! How do you know about the Goa'uld?"

Jack spoke up before Daniel could give them any information as he walked up to Daniel and grabbed his arm pulling him back. "Daniel, if I could have a word with you." Once they had reconvened in a corner he spoke again, "What the hell are you doing? They're civilians!"

"I know Jack, but we need to know what he knows. He obviously knows about them already, and he hasn't gone blabbing about it to anyone so far… We need to give them something before they'll tell us anything."

"Colonel, I think he's right. They have the upper hand right now, and he obviously knows something we don't know. We need to find out more about them, especially how she healed herself so quickly. If we can figure out what technology she used to do that, imagine the possibilities sir."

Jack looked at them weighing his options. "All right, all right. We'll tell them as much as we need to, but leave out the stuff about the Stargate." They all nodded in agreement before returning to face the Immortals.

"Daniel, what do you know about the Goa'uld?"

"Uh, we've had some run-ins with them."

"Oh my god! Are they back?"

"No… and we're trying to keep it that way," he cautiously looked back at his teammates upon hearing Adam's response. "Adam, how do you know they were here?" Daniel asked him, shocked by Adam's choice of words.

A contemplative Methos considered what he was hearing and what was not being said because of their military affiliations.

"You found the Chappa'ai," he quietly concluded as worry showed in his eyes

All of the SG-1 members were shocked at this revelation. How did this linguist/historian know about the Stargate being hidden? "Adam how do you know all this stuff? About the Goa'uld and the Chappa'ai?"

Methos' face paled as his fears were confirmed that they had indeed found the Chappa'ai. He then turned to a confused Duncan and Amanda and went over to them. "If they know about the Chappa'ai, then it means that the Goa'uld will be back, if they aren't already! … They're going to need our help if they have found it and know how to work it."

"What? What is this Chappa'ai thing?" Duncan asked. He'd never seen his friend so worried and adamant about anything else.

"It's the ring I was telling you about, the one that I saw the Goa'uld escaping through."

"So, what do we do?"

"I have to tell them what I know."

"Hang on a second there, Methos. They already suspect something about me, you're not going to tell them about us are you?"

"I might have to. The threat the Goa'uld present for this planet is bigger than the Game and our secret. Daniel's an anthropologist and an old friend, he'll understand that we need discretion."

"Sure he can maybe keep a secret. But what about his friends in the military, I bet they'd love to get their hands on one of us! Duncan, back me up on this!"

Duncan looked at Amanda and their guests. "It's your call Methos, just be careful."

"I will," he then turned away from his friends and towards SG-1. "Okay how about we make a deal. I tell you what I know and what I translated from that picture you have, and you tell me what you know about the Goa'uld. If you keep our secret, we'll keep your secret."

Daniel wanted to jump and say yes, but he deferred to Jack who was hesitant but finally agreed.

"We have a deal Mr. Pierson."

TBC

A/N: For those of you wondering where Teal'c is, lets say he went for a little family visit.


	5. What this is

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed already, I really do appreciate it. I see some new names to the reviews which means I'm drawing a different crowd to my other stories, I only hope that I don't disappoint you all.

Also, there aren't enough words of Thanks I can extend to SG1-Fanfic for all her help on this story in beta-ing it and helping me fill in some holes and come up with new ideas. She has been a real trooper to patiently help me out with this long saga of a story!

* * *

**_Chapter 4 - What this is_**

**Seacouver**

"Let's take a seat," Adam announced as he motioned to the sitting area in MacLeod's loft as he and Duncan set their swords down.

"So what do you know about the Goa'uld?" Daniel asked them once they were all seated.

"I know that they were here on Earth a very long time ago. In Egypt, well before the Old Kingdom. In a time where there are no written records to tell their story. All the ancient gods were one of these Goa'ulds. They were men impersonating as gods because of the power a snake gave them. Then after several centuries of fear and suffering under the rule of the Goa'uld, a rebellion took place. The Egyptians, using a powerful weapon, were able to defeat the Goa'uld and send them back through the Chappa'ai. Those that survived to see the triumph over the Goa'uld decided to bury the Chappa'ai so that the Goa'uld would never return."

Daniel was amazed at what Adam knew. There was no written record of the Goa'uld coming to Earth, at least none that they had found on Earth. "How do you know that?"

"Uh, no Daniel. It's your turn to share."

Daniel looked at Jack to make sure that he was okay with what he was about to reveal. "You're right, we did find the Chappa'ai, except we call it the Stargate now. It was found over seventy years ago, but only in the past eight years have we learned what it is and what we can do with it."

He once again looked at Jack to make sure that it was okay for him to continue. "The Stargate allows us to travel across the galaxy by creating a stable wormhole connecting two different Stargates on two planets. We've been using it to explore the universe. That's how we know about the Goa'uld. The snakes that give them their powers are parasitic; without a human host, the Goa'uld cannot live. Through the Stargate, we've formed alliances with other alien races to join in the fight against the Goa'uld. We've kept them off Earth so far, but we feel it's only a matter of time before they try and attack us again."

"How could you dig that thing up and then have the audacity to use it! Didn't you translate the warning? Thousands of people died trying to get rid of the Goa'uld!" he accused them as he rose from his seat and began to pace.

A shocked Daniel looked at his fellow team members, "Uh, we didn't find any warning. All we found with it was a tablet explaining that it was a Stargate used to banish Ra."

Methos swore under his breath, "The arrogance of you mortals!"

"Adam… I have to ask, what does the tablet say?" he asked as he pulled out the picture of the tablet.

Methos walked over to the table to sit and translate pointing out the symbols as he read, "It says:

After the first disappearance of the sun, after the great flood, there came an army through the Chappa'ai. They were led by a man-serpent, Ra. He ruled over the valley as a god. He enslaved many who would disappear through the Chappa'ai never to be seen again. The god Ra was of the Goa'uld race, superior to the mortals in the valley whom he would destroy. For over two thousand moons Ra ruled in the valley without death or age. Then one day a man from afar called Rames came, he too could not die. He spoke that he was a gift of the Ancients to the desert valley, and he harbored a great power to defeat Ra. Rames summoned an army from beyond the valley and fought against the Goa'uld and their Jaffa. They were mightier than the Goa'uld and forced them through the Chappa'ai. Rames told the survivors to bury the Chappa'ai after he left through it to prevent their return. If the Goa'uld should return, a brotherhood of his army must be sent to the Altar of Stones and he will return."

Daniel sat there going over what Methos was translating not believing what he was hearing. Colonel O'Neill was the first to speak, "Who was in that army and what'd they fight with to defeat the Goa'uld? They weren't all that advanced back then, right?"

The SG-1 members watched as the Immortals shared a look with each other. They understood that Methos had replaced army for Immortals. The idea of Immortals joining together in battle to fight a common enemy intrigued them.

Daniel mulled over the translation he had heard and looked down at the symbols again. He then considered what he saw transpire between the Immortals, they knew something else and weren't sharing. He wondered about one symbol and it's translation in particular.

"Adam your translation of army for the infinity symbol doesn't seem logical to me. How do you know you are translating this correctly? I've never seen a lot of these symbols and their combinations."

Methos took a deep breath as he decided to tell him the truth. Hopefully Duncan and Amanda would understand. "The three of you must swear not to tell anyone what I am about to tell you. You cannot tell your friends, family, co-workers, or your superiors. If we ever find out that you told someone what we are about to reveal, there will be no measure as to how far we will go."

Daniel and Sam readily agreed, of course for them it was easy. The real decision lay with their team leader, and he was hesitant. "If we swear to keep your secret, will you help us?"

Methos looked to Duncan and Amanda who agreed. They weren't going to miss out on this adventure. "Yes. So what do you say Colonel?"

"Okay, whatever you are about to tell us will not go beyond the three of us. You have my word as an officer of the United States Air Force."

Amanda cut in displaying part of her lingering skepticism, "Well that's reliable."

"Amanda!"

"I know what the tablet says because I was there. I fought against the Goa'uld and helped send them back through the Stargate."

Carter, ever the curious scientist, was shocked. "That's impossible! You're no more than thirty years old! Wait, did you find a way to travel back in time? -"

"I'm not a time traveler Major Carter. I was there. I was alive in that time… You're right, Daniel, the infinity symbol does not stand for army - it stands for 'The Immortals'. I am Immortal… in fact we all are," he told them as he motioned at his friends. "You cannot kill us. And you already saw a demonstration of our abilities thanks to Colonel O'Neill shooting Amanda."

He paused as he decided to take another risk, "My real name is Methos and I am over ten thousand years old. Duncan is over four hundred years old, and Amanda almost twelve hundred years old."

Duncan and Amanda were shocked to hear Methos' age from his own mouth. They had suspected as much but were never positive.

"You're kidding right? That's funny… humans who cannot die." Jack joked to hide his amazement. He then saw the serious faces on everyone else. "You're not kidding are you?"

"No Colonel, I am not. You cannot kill me." There was no sense telling them that actually they could be killed with a beheading. "I have seen the evolution of human culture over ten thousand years. I have fought more battles than you can imagine. I have seen more things than you can fathom. I know infinitely more things than you do. I have fought against the Goa'uld and won. We are Immortal."

"How is that possible?"

"We don't know. All that we know is that we are born mortal, and then we die only to reawaken and discover that we cannot die."

"This is amazing! My god, the things you've seen and done!" Daniel excitedly exclaimed, the possibilities of really knowing what had happened in history and what the culture was like. All the cultures he could more deeply understand.

"Sir, this is amazing. We can learn so much from them."

"Major, we agreed to help you, not become guinea pigs or libraries for you. Remember you cannot tell anyone about us."

"But-"

"No, I'm sorry Major. Do you realize what would happen if someone in the government or the general population found out about us. They would not embrace us with open arms. They will fear us… they always do."

"My own kinsmen banished me from my clan when I first became Immortal. You fear what you don't understand. There would be a worldwide witch hunt for us and others like us," Duncan explained to them sadly.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just that we have so many questions!"

"Look, maybe someday we'll talk more in depth about this, but we have a bigger problem to solve… the Goa'uld," Methos told them, trying to bring them all back to the important matter at hand.

The soldier in Jack finally realized that he had a way to stop the Goa'uld and all he had to do was get them to trust them. "Sooo… Methos, right?"

"I prefer though if you call me Adam. The less that name is mentioned the better for me."

"Right… So Adam, how did you defeat the Goa'uld and send them back through the Stargate?"

"Rames was a great Immortal, he taught many of us about who we were and what our potential was. He taught us to embrace our Immortality and the possibilities that lay ahead of us. He showed some of us that there is more to our lives than the Game. That we had-"

"Game? What Game?"

Methos debated on whether or not to reveal the Achilles heel of Immortals. He knew though that eventually they'd ask enough of the right questions and find out. "The Game is a battle fought between Immortals… to the death. Now, I know I said that we could not die… but there is one way. The object of the Game is that when there are only a few remaining we go to the Gathering, and in the end, there can be only one. And so there are some Immortals who hunt others in the hopes of being the final one."

"How do you kill each other?"

"By taking their head, and with it his Quickening, something akin to his life source and power."

Daniel was disgusted at the idea, "You mean decapitation?"

"Yes. Another thing we hope you don't let slip out."

Jack was confused, "So if the object of the Game is to be the final one, then why aren't you guys fighting right now?"

"Because some of us believe that there is more to our lives than the Game. That's one of the things Rames taught us. We don't all crave power. Some of us are just survivors. Others enjoy life too much to tempt fate by actively participating in the Game."

"Yeah, well back to that battle against the Goa'uld."

"Yes. As I was saying, Rames showed some of us Immortals that there were bigger causes than the Game, that we had a higher purpose in our lives. He knew more about us than anyone I've met. Anyways, when Ra came to Egypt, Rames found out and started to collect his army of Immortals from across the known world. When Rames spoke, we listened. We could not refuse him anything… Those who had hunted each other before took up arms together against the Goa'uld. When the time was right and we numbered five hundred, we charged into Egypt to meet up with Rames." Methos recalled the battle vividly as he recounted it.

"We fought the Goa'uld with only our axes. But remember, they could not kill us. We would die and come back to life right before their eyes; it struck fear into their eyes and sent them back through the Stargate… Imagine what it was like for their Jaffa to see a human die and then come back to life, something that only their 'God' could do."

"Now that is what I call an army!" Jack exclaimed. "What? Well it is…" He became uncomfortable under the glares from the others in the room. "Yeah, well… Anyway, back to your story. So, any way we can get in touch with this Rames guy?"

Duncan replied, "He left through the Chappa'ai, remember?"

"Right… Okay then, you guys have to come with us."

Amanda was shocked that he would have the audacity to tell them what to do. "Excuse me, who do you think you are?" She was still mad at him for shooting her, and hence revealing their secret.

Duncan stepped in between a charging Amanda and Jack, "Calm down Amanda. I'm sure all he wants is our help, isn't that right O'Neill?" he asked him, emphasizing his use of his last name without his rank.

"Look, I have spent the past seven years trying to prepare Earth against a possible invasion by the Goa'uld and fighting against them. I will do what is necessary to fulfill that mission. Now, I know I need your help to destroy the Goa'uld. But to do that, we need to return to our Stargate Command Center. You guys said that if we promise to keep your Immortality secret you'd help us. Well we promised, and we need your help!" As he was animatedly speaking, Daniel came up to his arm to calm him down.

Speaking in Aramaic, Methos spoke to Daniel, "He's quite the warrior, isn't he?"

"Yes he is, Methos. Please… we need your help. You have to trust us."

"Daniel you learned history, we've lived it… We're a bit more weary of you mortals."

"Please, I trust these people with my life and the fate of the Earth."

"Well then, I guess that'll have to do, won't it?" Methos looked at Daniel as they both understood each other. The others looked on unsure what language they were speaking.

"Daniel, what are you two saying? I hate it when you do that!"

Methos turned to Duncan and Amanda to discuss what they should do as Daniel explained to Jack and Sam that they were deciding. He told Jack that Methos thought he was a warrior, pleasing Jack… That was quite a compliment from a ten thousand year-old man.

"Colonel, can I ask you something? You earned that rank by working hard and displaying yourself on the battlefield. You were not born with that rank, you had to prove yourself, right? Well, you've done that with your peers," he pointed at Sam and Daniel, "but not with us," he explained as he indicated himself.

"We have lived far too long and seen far too much to just give that respect to anyone and follow him or her. We will work with you Colonel as equals to defeat the Goa'uld… But do not treat us as lower ranking members of your military. By living as long as we have, and now that you know that, we should command respect from you." Deciding to lighten the mood after his chastisement he continued on with a smile, "besides didn't your mother ever tell you to respect your elders?"

Everyone in the room except for Jack couldn't help but smile at the comment. Once he saw everyone else in the room smiling, including Sam and Daniel, and realizing that Methos had a point, Jack conceded defeat with a smile.

"But… Daniel here tells me you are a warrior. You have fought against the Goa'uld. And that does demand respect. We will work together Colonel O'Neill to defeat the Goa'uld." He then walked over to Jack and shook his hand. "At least it does with me, and I am an old man who has survived for a very long time. And I'm sure Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, who is a warrior and samurai, would also agree."

Methos seemed poised to stop, when Amanda cleared her throat to remind Methos to introduce her and her virtues. "Ah yes, and Amanda Darieux - compulsive thief."

"Methos! There's more to me than being a thief!"

"And that would be?" He asked her with a devilish smile on his face.

"I'm not exactly sure, but let me spend some more time with Duncan and I'm sure we could come up with something. I'm sure our young boy scout could help refine me," she replied as she walked over to Duncan and kissed him.

"I don't know Amanda, it may take a few centuries!"

"Duncan, how could you say that? Oh well, I guess you'll be stuck with me." Duncan merely kissed her back in response.

"Knock it off you two! What do you suggest we do Colonel O'Neill?"

"Head to Stargate Command. It's in Colorado Springs. Once there we can safely develop a plan. However to get you on base, we're going to have to notify General Hammond that you three will be joining us."

"What will you tell them about us?" Methos inquired.

"I'll tell them that you, Adam Pierson, translated the tablet and that you and your colleagues had some interesting theories that I think the General needed to know."

"That'll work for us, thank you."

TBC


	6. Informal Relations

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story, I truly do appreciate it. I have come to a decision, after this posting I will be placing Tablets and Prophecies under the TV Crossovers category below the Misc. heading. After taking another look at this story, I decided that this story is too balanced to stick it just under Stargate SG-1. So to this who have stumbled upon this story, look for it under TV Crossovers next time!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 5 - Informal Relations**_

**Seacouver**

"I know we said that we won't tell anyone about your immortality, but with your permission I need to tell two more people. Our other team member and my CO, General Hammond."

"Why?"

"Well, if we are going to be working together against the Goa'uld, then everyone on my team needs to know who is out there with us. Trust me, we're hiding a secret of his from the rest of the world. And General Hammond needs to know because he needs to know what we are capable of. I trust that man with my life. I can guarantee you that it will not go beyond us and them."

"If you don't mind, we'd prefer to meet them first before we let them in on our secret."

"I can live with that. Thank you." Jack started to get a better feeling for this guy. Yeah it was strange that he was Immortal and all, and that he'd gone around cutting off people's heads, but he had fought against the Goa'uld. And the man was smart, and logical. He also kept an open mind, and if he was going to be traveling through the Stargate with them, he needed that. Jack got excited as he started to believe that things might work out after all.

"When would you like to leave?"

"I can arrange for a Lear jet to pick us up tomorrow morning."

The three Immortals nodded their heads and so Jack made the call to the SGC requesting a plane. Amanda overheard parts of the conversation and heard Jack say nothing about their Immortality, only that they would be traveling with three guests. Satisfied that everything was okay, she went over to Duncan and whispered in his ear.

Duncan then spoke to the entire group, "I don't know if you guys had other plans, but you're more than welcome to stay for dinner and stay here for the night. I have a few spare bedrooms upstairs, if you like."

Jack was about to decline the offer, but Daniel snuck in his opinion first. "We'd love to!" Daniel then turned to Jack and Sam. Jack wasn't pleased at the situation, but Sam was excited to have the opportunity to talk with their new friends.

"Colonel?"

Realizing that the rest of his team was dying to accept the offer, he decided to go along with them. "Yeah, we'd love to, thanks. Oh… before we get too comfortable, we have to go across the street and get our stuff."

Amanda spoke first, "Why's that?"

"Because before we came over here and made our little alliance, we were listening in with a parabolic receiver, and it's been recording everything that's been said since Adam got here… That's how we knew you knew about the Goa'uld," he explained. "Now I know it's in everyone's interest that that recording not exist." Jack got uncomfortable from the stare he was getting from Amanda, she was a vixen all right, and a beautiful one at that. "Hey, I'm just being honest here. I just want to go over there and get the stuff and destroy the audio tape."

"Fine. Mind if I come with you?" Yes they may have decided to work together, but Amanda was always on the cautious side, especially with anybody who had already shot her.

Those who knew Jack saw that internally he was cringing, he didn't want to be left alone with the woman. "Sure, it's just across the street."

The two then left the apartment, as they were leaving Duncan yelled out, "Amanda, be nice!"

"I always am!" she replied as she closed the elevator doors.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. She just has a strong bark, she doesn't really bite," Duncan reassured Sam and Daniel as he himself walked to the window to make sure that the two of them did survive the elevator ride before heading into the kitchen to start cooking. "Would anyone like anything to drink?"

"I'll have that beer now Mac!"

"Ahh, water, thanks. Adam can I talk to you?"

"Well you sure don't waste any time do you Daniel?" The two then further carried on their discussions about the Stargate, each one trying to learn more from the other. After a while of playing games they merely reverted back to talking about the old times. Except that this time, Daniel looked at the Adam he knew in a new light.

Carter lingered in the background as Duncan gave Methos and Daniel their drinks. "Major Carter?" As she awakened from her trance she followed Duncan into the kitchen area. "Major, can I offer you something to drink?"

"Water will be fine, thanks."

"Come on Major, have a glass of wine with me."

"That's okay, I'm on duty."

"No, actually you're having dinner with some new friends… But have it your way." He gave her a glass of water as he poured himself a glass of a Latour Burgundy wine from 1870. Once he had savored a sip of the wine he pulled out both guns from his back and placed them on the counter in front of her.

She stared at the weapons momentarily before she reached for her own piece and placed it in the small of her back. He was extending an olive branch and she had to show that she was worthy of it.

"You know, the Latour 1870 is one of my favorite wines. You really should try it one of these days!" he told her as he smiled when he saw the awe on her face when she learned how old the wine was. "Don't worry I've got another two cases saved up in storage. That's one nice thing about being an Immortal, I get to collect a lot of very fine things. Problem is that I've become a bit of a pack rat. That's why I used to be an antique dealer, to try and unload some of my less favorite things."

"On second thought, I'll have that glass of wine."

Duncan smiled as he poured her a glass of the Latour; they raised their glasses in a toast, "To new friendships."

"To new friendships," Sam reiterated. "It's delicious."

"I thought you'd like it." Duncan proceeded to start preparing a meal as Sam looked through the rest of his collection of wines.

Carter's head was racing with so many questions. "I'd love to see your collection sometime."

"Which? My wine cellar or my antiques Major Carter?"

"Both," she replied with a smile. "And please, call me Sam."

"Duncan… so are you going to ask me or not?"

"Ask you what?"

"Any of the questions racing through your head."

"Are you a mind reader?"

"No, just an observer of human nature, I've studied it a lot longer than you have. You're a scientist… you're curious by nature. To learn about us and not have any questions would truly be unique," he told her as he flashed her a boyish smile.

"You're right, I am curious… When were you born?"

"I was born in 1592, in Glenfinnan, Scotland."

"What's it like?"

"What?"

"Living as long as you have? Seeing what you have? Watching times change?"

"Good and bad."

"Bad? How can it be bad to watch history unfold itself before your eyes? Isn't it exciting?"

"It can be. You have to realize that for us, we just want to keep our heads. The longer you live, the more you see and do. The more wonderful things you see… but also more sadness. You see more death. The longer you live the more times you see your mortal friends die. The pain you feel when someone you care about dies never goes away completely, you merely feel it longer. Most of us don't think of it as watching history unfold before us, we just fill up our time with more things between our mortal 'deaths.'"

"I'm sorry."

"Why? You-" Duncan straightened and stopped what he was doing when he felt an Immortal buzz. Sam noticed Duncan's odd behavior and then the same thing in Methos. Before they saw the elevator approach she saw both men look for their swords. When they could see Amanda they both stopped their search and continued what they were doing.

"What was that?"

"What?"

"What just happened to you and Adam? You both just stopped what you were doing and looked for your swords."

Duncan stuttered to find a way to answer her but was saved by Amanda. "We're back!"

"Excellent! Methos, mind showing them up to their rooms? Oh and Colonel, I believe this belongs to you," he told him as he pushed the gun along the counter.

"Thanks."

ooo

**Somewhere between Seacouver and Colorado Springs  
** The next morning

Most of the passengers were asleep, trying to make up for the long night where they had all stayed up late telling stories and drinking some very old Scotch. The only two still awake were Daniel and Duncan. Daniel was furiously typing on his laptop, trying to recall what they had spoken about the previous night and what insights he had developed. Duncan merely sat there quietly meditating. Once he had finished he looked up to see that Sam was awake. "Good morning."

"Yeah, good morning," she slowly replied.

Seeing the effects of the alcohol on Sam, he realized that it might be a good idea to make some coffee. As he walked towards the galley he paused and looked over Daniel's shoulder. "I hope you'll keep those files under lock and key."

"It is. The computer is super-encrypted," he replied not really focusing on what Duncan had said, he was more absorbed in his typing.

As he waited for the coffee to finish, he noticed that Jack was starting to stir. Leaving the galley with two cups of black coffee he headed back towards O'Neill and Carter. He quietly stood in front of Jack for a few seconds as he let the aroma of the coffee awaken him. "Good morning Colonel."

"My god, what's so good about this morning? My head is splitting! I need to-" Jack finally noticed the offered coffee in front of his eyes. "There is a God!"

"I believe so, but don't confuse me with him, okay?" he smiled back as he continued on to give Sam the other cup.

Once she was re-energized and fully awake from the coffee, she recalled that she had asked Duncan a question the previous night and he had avoided it. "You never answered me last night, about why both you and Adam both became so aware at the same time."

"We Immortals share a link of sorts. We can sense another Immortal coming. I think it's one's Quickening sensing another's… Mind if I ask you a question?"

Sam realized for the first time since they had formed their alliance that none of the SG-1 members had really answered any questions. She realized that the Immortals had recognized their curiosity and so had answered many of their questions, with out really asking anything of them. "Not at all."

"What's it like traveling through the Stargate Sam? Discovering new planets and civilizations?"

"It's the most exhilarating experience! I've always dreamed of going up into space, now I get to do that and so much more. The possibilities that lie out there are endless! The things we can discover, the technology we'll discover. The joy I get when I see something exotic on another planet is… I can't describe it! Traveling through the Stargate has opened up the universe for me. I don't think I'll ever discover a planet that doesn't make me start asking questions."

Duncan watched on as Sam passionately spoke. He realized that she didn't mention the people they had encountered, she was a scientist and an officer first. "And you Colonel, what's your favorite part of traveling through the Stargate?"

"The toys of course!" Duncan realized then that Jack was a soldier and a child, an interesting combination. He didn't really seem to have a sense of history and relationships, especially of cause and effect. He couldn't think very far in advance. 'I wonder how his chess game is?' he mused.

An hour later Jack found himself sitting next to Sam. He leaned over and began whispering, "So what do you think of all this?"

Sam looked over at her CO and couldn't hide her excitement. "Incredible. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that they are over hundreds or thousands of years old.'

Jack quirked an eyebrow, "Carter? You're at a loss for words?"

Sam rolled her eyes at his humor. She ignored his comment, "Sir, what do you think of it?"

He leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling as he gathered his thoughts. "If I were an Immortal, I'd fish all day!" he finally revealed in all seriousness.

She laughed, "Seriously sir, what would you do?"

"I am serious," he told her. When he saw her pointed stare he cleared his throat and tried again, "I don't know… Travel a lot, probably. Pick up a few languages maybe."

"Really, sir?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It's kind of cool."

Sam raised her eyebrow at him.

He watched her and leaned over, "And I swear to you that if you ever repeat that to Daniel I will have you sent to Antarctica so fast!"

Sam laughed, "First of all, if you sent me to Antarctica who would watch your back, sir? And second of all, I truly doubt General Hammond would let you transfer me to Antarctica," she told him with a pointed look.

He bobbed his head in agreement, "Right… So what would you do?"

Before she could reply, he interrupted her, "Wait let me guess… More PhD's!"

She nodded her head, "Probably, sir. Maybe take up a few hobbies… like knitting!" she teased him reminding him of a suggestion he once made to her.

"Or fishing!" he shot back at her as he hinted with his eyebrows.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they both watched Daniel furiously typing away at his computer making notes of some of the things he had learned from speaking with their three new companions.

"I think I feel bad for Pierson…" Jack mused.

"What do you mean sir?"

Jack continued to watch Daniel as he asked Methos for clarification on a certain topic, "Think about it… A lot of theories Daniel has on ancient civilization and practices might be incorrect, and he's going to want to verify every single one of them with Pierson over there," he pointed.

Sam followed his gaze to Methos who rolled his eyes as Daniel asked another question and waved it off as he tried to fall back asleep.

"Do you realize that he could send the entire anthropology and archaeology world upside down if he were to reveal the truth about what life was really like?"

"Probably a good thing that he doesn't go around spouting off the truth… Can you imagine all those scientists hanging upside down?"

TBC

Remember to review!


	7. Introductions

_**Chapter 6 - Introductions**_

**SGC Conference Room**

Methos, Amanda, and Duncan all waited in the conference room as the rest of SG-1 spoke with General Hammond further explaining their presence. After nearly a half hour of waiting they felt a strange Immortal like buzz, similar to the one they had felt the night before.

Duncan turned to speak with his companions as General Hammond and SG-1 walked in. "Something's up with Daniel or Sam. We didn't feel it when you came back with Jack."

Methos considered the feeling and recalled that he had felt it the night he was in Paris and met up with Daniel and Jack. "It's Daniel, I sensed it-"

Methos' eyes went wide as he saw Teal'c walk in, "Jaffa!" He reached under his trench coat and pulled out his sword to kill the enemy.

Everyone was shocked at the outburst, "No Adam! He's with us!" Daniel screamed as he stepped in between Adam and Teal'c.

"He is Jaffa! He serves the Goa'uld!"

"He doesn't, not anymore Adam!"

"What the hell is going on here?" General Hammond demanded. "Stand down there, son! You don't come in here and threaten my men!"

"Adam, buddy, relax. He's with us; he's the one I told you about. So please, put your sword away." Jack told Adam. Why hadn't they warned Adam about Teal'c? Hell, he'd fought against the Goa'uld, of course he would know about the Jaffa!

Methos took his eyes off Teal'c and looked at Daniel and Jack. He nodded his head at them and began to put his sword away and step away.

"Colonel, confiscate that sword!"

"Uh sir, that's what we wanted to talk to you about. I told them that they could keep their swords with them."

General Hammond shifted his glare from Methos to Colonel, "You did what?"

"Sir, we need their expertise."

"Colonel, it's okay. We will relinquish our swords to you, but they stay in the room." The three Immortals all placed their swords on the conference room table.

"Excuse me, but you don't come on to my base and tell me and my men how things are done!"

It was Daniel's turn to speak up and explain, "General Hammond. We need to speak in private, all of us. We have a lot to tell you."

"Someone had better explain to me what the hell is going on and why three armed civilians are on my base!"

"Sir they offer unique expertise and experiences that would be beneficial to us here at the SGC," they cryptically told him.

"General Hammond, I apologize for my actions before. But once I explain a few things to you, which I truly believe you will want to hear, I believe many things will be cleared up for you. After that, if you'd like, you can escort us off your base. I think though, you should listen to what we have to say."

General Hammond looked at everyone in the room and decided to go along with them, at least for a while. SG-1 seemed to trust them. "Very well. What is it you have to say?"

"Before we begin General, I have a request. That no one remain in this room except yourself and SG-1; and also that all recording devices be turned off for the duration of our discussion before we disclose everything to you."

Before General Hammond could speak, Jack interrupted him. "General Hammond, sir, I know what they need to say, and you need to hear it, sir. I recommend that we do as he says if we want his help."

General Hammond was angered at what was going on - was he losing control of his command? "Very well. Sergeant, clear the room and immediately terminate all recording devices… This had better be good."

"It is sir."

After waiting a couple of minutes to make sure that all recording devices were turned off, Methos performed the introductions. "My name is Adam Pierson, this is Duncan MacLeod and Amanda Darieux, they're friends of mine. Now, Daniel Jackson came to me with a picture of a tablet that he could not translate. I was able to translate it, and this is what it said." He then translated the tablet for the General and Teal'c. "You see, the Earth has a natural weapon to fight against the Goa'uld and their Jaffa, and you are completely unaware of it. Which brings me to ask a question first, why is it that a member of the Jaffa is working among you here?"

"I no longer believe in the power of the Goa'uld. They are false gods. I have taken up arms with the Tau'ri in hopes of defeating the Goa'uld. I am a traitor to my kind and hunted by the Goa'uld."

"That is indeed an honorable thing you have done, Teal'c. I know it is not easy to turn away from who you were and what you believed in. I meant you no harm." Teal'c merely tilted his head in acceptance.

General Hammond was amazed at all the knowledge that Adam possessed, "Colonel, just what exactly did you tell him?"

O'Neill started to fumble with his words in trying to come up with an answer when Methos stepped in. "General Hammond, they only told me of your current activities with the Chappa'ai. My knowledge of the history of the Chappa'ai, the Goa'uld, and that tablet, I have gained personally through other experiences."

Hammond's gaze raced across the faces of his staff. "Just how exactly do you know about the Stargate?"

Methos quietly looked at Duncan and Amanda who held his stare. They were placing their trust in him and his judgment. He then looked at Daniel, Sam, and Jack, who imperceptibly nodded his head and pleaded with his eyes hoping that he would indeed reveal everything to them.

"General Hammond and Teal'c, we have already made an agreement with Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Daniel, I'd like to offer you both the same deal. I ask you that neither of you ever repeat what I am about to tell you, not to your family, friends, or superiors. The only ones who know so far are the Colonel, Major, and Daniel; we would like to keep it that way. Is this acceptable to you?"

Teal'c looked to O'Neill for an answer and when he saw him nod his head he answered Adam. "I will not share with anyone outside of this room what you are about to tell us Adam Pierson."

"It seems that my best team believes you and finds you vital to our mission, enough to be extremely accommodating to you," he was going to have to have a word with Colonel O'Neill about that. "Very well then Mr. Pierson, I agree."

"General Hammond, Duncan, Amanda, and myself are Immortal. We cannot die, unless another one of us takes our head. I know about the Chappa'ai and the Goa'uld because I was alive when the Goa'uld came to Earth over ten thousand years ago. I and other Immortals like us fought against the Goa'uld and forced them back through the Stargate. I was there when we buried the gate."

General Hammond stared at Methos silently before turning to Colonel O'Neill, "Colonel, you actually believed this story?"

"Sir it's true. I've seen it."

"Seen what?"

"I've seen them recover from a gunshot wound and walk away as if nothing has happened."

Methos pulled out one of his throwing knives and cut his hand open. "Watch General."

General Hammond and even the stoic Teal'c were amazed at what they saw. "General Hammond, I have never seen technology like this before. Not even the Goa'uld can heal a wound so rapidly without a sarcophagus or healing device."

"My god! You're telling me that you are all over ten thousand years old?"

"Actually sir, only Adam there. Duncan is closer to four hundred years old and Amanda is around twelve hundred years old," Jack explained.

Once the shock had worn off, Methos explained his experience with the Goa'uld and his fight against them and further explained the existence of Immortals on Earth. "General Hammond, with your permission, we would like to join you in your fight against the Goa'uld."

"We would be honored if you would join us."

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, it was time to kick some serious Goa'uld ass. Seeing the General look in his direction he hid his feelings, "Sorry sir."

"Colonel O'Neill, would you please give our new team members a tour of the facility, and make sure you show them the Stargate, SG-3 should be returning in a half hour. Please show them their quarters afterwards."

They spent the rest of the day becoming familiar with the facility and the workings of the SGC. They also filled out the proper paperwork and an appropriate cover story for the addition of three more civilians to the SGC.

TBC


	8. Continuity

Sorry it took me so long to post another chapter to this story. So as a treat, I present two chapters today. I hope you enjoy them and let me know what you think._**  
**_

* * *

_**Chapter 7 - Continuity**_

**SGC**  
Early the next morning

Duncan entered the gym area to find that he was the only one present. He wasn't surprised though; it was barely five in the morning. He liked it this way though; he liked to practice his kata and meditation alone. The previous night they had told them that they would start at eight for some briefings on what they had accomplished in the past few years.

Wearing the loose black pants and white gi of an Aikido sensei, he kneeled in the center of the mats with his sword sheathed at his left hip. After focusing himself and his ki he slowly drew out his sword and held it in both hands, one under the hilt and the other below the blade. He silently made a prayer before leaning forward and laying the sword out in front of him as he held his forehead an inch above the floor. After a long pause he slowly brought himself upright. Once his back was straight, he again paused and held the position before suddenly jumping up to his feet and going right into his kata. He varied the pace of it as he continued on for over thirty minutes of meditating without the sword. He came to stand next to his katana where he paused before kneeling down on his left knee and reaching to his left side with his right arm and picking up the sword as he began his kata with the sword. This practice lasted for over thirty minutes as well before he sheathed the sword and once again returned to a kneeling position to focus and say a final prayer.

Unknown to Duncan, Sam had been watching Duncan since just before he had started his unarmed kata. She was drawn into his fluid movements as she became entranced and watched from the doorway. Once he had finished and put his sword away, she spoke, "That was amazing! I've never seen anything like it!"

Duncan looked up from his sword as soon as he heard her voice, "Thank you. It is a kata I was taught by a samurai named Hideo Koto. It is a samurai tradition that is only shown to worthy warriors and has been around for over a thousand years."

"It's so fluid."

"Well I've been practicing it for over two hundred years."

Sam shook her head as she considered what he had said. "I still can't get over that, you've seen so much and you all act like it was just another day."

"Because to us, it was. Do you look back at your childhood and become amazed at what you have lived through? No, because they were just memories. They have affected you and only you in a unique way. You do not consider what happened to you when you were sixteen in relation to the whole world order do you? … I'll see you in a few hours Major."

Major Carter watched Duncan leave as she considered what he had said. Even in the short time they had known each other, whenever she spoke with him she learned something profound. He always left her with something to think about. Deep down she already knew what he was trying to teach her, she had just never had anyone bring it to her conscious mind.

ooo

That morning was filled with briefings about the Stargate, previous missions, the Goa'uld, current technology, and some of the other alien races they had come upon. Towards the end of the briefing they talked about the tablet. "Does anyone have any ideas where that tablet came from and who made it?"

Daniel was the first to throw out a theory. "It had to have been Rames sir. The Goa'uld would never document the destruction of one of their own, let alone Ra. He must have written it once he left Earth. Adam, how did you know that script? Was it in use then?"

"Actually no. A language and writing system weren't developed for thousands of years. But Rames had shown a few of us this written language… where he got it from, I don't know. Actually, now that I think of it, Rames told us what we were to etch into the stone covering the buried Stargate. None of us who knew the writing on the tablet recognized what he was having us etch on the stones."

"Wait, you're telling me that Rames had a written language developed before we thought it existed! And that he gave you the inscription for the cover using ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics that hadn't been developed yet? How is that…? Wait a minute… That's it!"

Everyone looked at Daniel not knowing where he was going with this, "Daniel? Would you care to explain?" Jack asked him.

"It's amazing! The tablet says that Rames was a gift to the Earth from the Ancients. What if he wasn't a gift, but rather an ambassador for the Ancients? I think he was one of the Ancients!"

Seeing the skepticism on their faces he continued to explain his theory, "Think about it, he knew about the Stargate, he knew that it would transport people across the galaxy. He couldn't die. And he knows this language before written languages were developed here on Earth! He knew that the Immortals could take on the Goa'uld, that's why he spent so much time gathering his army and training them before he descended upon Egypt. And think about it Adam, according to you, the most important thing to you at that time was the Game. Yet somehow Rames comes in and you all rally around him and fight off the Goa'uld. I don't think that he was just another Immortal, I think he was one of the Ancients who came here on Earth to protect us!"

"Sir, it makes sense. He seemed to know a lot more than he should and he had a lot of control."

"Any chance we could entice him to come back and help us out again?"

"It would appear so. If Rames did write this tablet, then some Immortals just need to go to this Altar of Stones."

"Mr. Pierson, do you know where this Altar of Stones is?"

"I'm afraid I don't General. I have never heard anyone speak of, or reference, an Altar of Stones"  
ooo(DM asks of Ramirez there and ties absence to knowledge of Goa'uld, can't go on)  
Something was gnawing at the back of Duncan's mind, but he couldn't wrap his mind around it. "Methos, are there any other Immortals still alive from that battle against the Goa'uld?"

"No. I am the last of the army. The others were all dead by 5000BC."

It was still there, but he felt he was getting somewhere. There was something from the other night though that he couldn't remember. "Wait, so Ramirez wasn't there?"

"No, why?"

"Who's Ramirez?" Jack asked.

Duncan answered this one, "He was an Immortal. He took in my kinsman, Connor MacLeod, and taught him about who and what he was. He lost his head in the mid-1500s to the Kurgan. If he wasn't there in Egypt when you fought the Goa'uld, how did he know about the Goa'uld and know to warn Connor about them?"

"I don't know. Are you implying then that Ramirez was another ambassador of the Ancients Mac?"

"I'm not sure, I'm just thinking out loud here. I feel like there's something I'm missing or forgetting though. I'm missing a connecting piece somewhere."

General Hammond considered what Duncan was saying, he would have to try and bring up the subject again at a later time. He then turned to Daniel to see if he remembered anything, "Dr. Jackson do you recall anything more from when you ascended?"

"Ascended?"

"Yes, as you're now aware, the Ancients were a technologically advanced human race, they created the Stargates and spread them throughout the known galaxy. Actually we believe they were here on Earth as long as 3 million years ago. I know, before the evolution of modern man. Anyway, at some point a plague swept through the galaxy and the Ancients evolved once again as they learned to ascend to a higher plane of existence, above the corporal world. A year ago, there was an accident and I died, but I learned to ascend to the level of the Ancients. During that time I observed the galaxy, specifically SG-1 and our allies. Among the ascended Ancients it is forbidden to change the course of a civilization, punishable by being banished back to the physical world. SG-1 was fighting against the Goa'uld Anubis and I interfered. I then descended back into my human form. I don't really have much recollection of my time when I was ascended, but I'm slowly remembering bits and pieces. What?" Daniel asked the three Immortals as they all looked at each other.

Duncan was the first to confirm what they had heard, "So you died and came back to life?"

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way. Why?"

"Well it explains something that we have all been feeling when you come near us. Major Carter, do you remember when I told you that we Immortals could sense each other's presence when we come near one another? We can also sense someone who is destined to become an Immortal, it's not as a strong as a full Immortal's buzz, but it's there nonetheless. Well, the night you all showed up in Seacouver, we felt a buzz; it was stronger than a pre-Immortal's, but not as strong as an Immortals. We knew there was something special about one of you, but we didn't know what. Then when Colonel O'Neill returned with Amanda from across the street Methos and I didn't feel the buzz. That left Major Carter and Daniel as the source. Methos later remembered that he had gotten the same feeling the night he first met with Daniel and Colonel O'Neill in Paris."

"What are you saying? That Daniel here is Immortal?" Jack asked.

"We don't know what he is, all we can say definitively is that he has a stronger Quickening than mortals. Maybe it's a residual of his ascension to that higher plane of energy. That's essentially what a Quickening is, energy."

General Hammond looked at the Immortals and then at Daniel Jackson, did he have an immortal to deal with? "Major Carter?"

"Sir, I guess it's possible. I don't know because I doubt there's a way to quantify and read the energy levels we are emitting. The reason why Daniel doesn't feel it and they do sir, may be because he's not genetically defined that way, or maybe he just doesn't have the gift. I can't say for sure."

Duncan still had something at the tip of his mind that he couldn't quite grasp, he decided to push on a bit more. "Can you tell us some more about the Ancients?"

"Well we don't know terribly much about them, just bits and pieces really. We know that they hold each other to a strict moral code. As a whole, they frown upon interfering with the course of events; they don't want to bring anyone along too soon. They can also retake on a corporeal form after they have ascended, but it seems that they need the help of ascended Ancients to re-ascend. The Ancients also have the ability to control climates; we've seen them cause directed lightening strikes. We know that they were part of the original ruling council of the galaxies. Other than that, we don't really have all that much."

"What's bugging you MacLeod?" Methos asked his young friend.

"I'm not sure, but follow me through with this. The Ancients were here on Earth over 3 million years ago."

Major Carter took the opportunity to explain her theory, "Yes, I have a theory that maybe humans evolved twice in our galaxy. And the first time it led to the Ancients. It's possible that with the plague that struck, evolution had to start all over again in some places."

"And the act of ascending seems to leave some sort of residual energy, that we Immortals can detect. And they can control lightening. And Rames knew things that hadn't quite been studied or developed here on Earth... I think there's a connection between us Immortals and the Ancients."

"What are you suggesting Mr. MacLeod?" the General asked.

"Sir, nothing for sure. But I have a feeling that the Immortals are related to the Ancients. There seem to be quite a few similarities-Daniel's quickening, the lightening, I'm guessing the Ancients lived to ripe old ages, add in what Rames and Ramirez knew and shouldn't have, and something just doesn't quite fit."

Sam analyzed what he was saying and tried to follow his line of thinking, "Sir he could be right. But I don't think we can find out for sure unless we ask Rames. And we don't know where to go to contact him. We've hit a dead end sir."

"Very well. Dr. Pierson and Dr. Jackson I want you to both go over any data we have on the Ancients, especially the writings we've found. To the new members of SG-1, how would you like to travel through the Stargate this afternoon?"

TBC


	9. R & R

_**Chapter 8 - R&R**_

**Colorado Springs**  
Several weeks later

"Unscheduled wormhole activation!"

"Are we expecting anyone Colonel?"

"No we're not. Let's go check it out, shall we?" All of SG-1 headed down to the gate control room to find out who was trying to come through the Stargate.

"General, it's the Tok'ra."

"Open the Iris. Major Carter, did you know they were planning on coming?"

"No sir. I haven't spoken with my father in almost two months."

Adam, Duncan, and Amanda hung back with Daniel as they observed. Adam quietly asked Daniel a question, "Daniel, who are the Tok'ra?"

"They're our allies in fighting against the Goa'uld. Th- What is it?" Daniel asked him as he saw all three Immortals stiffen as soon as Jacob walked through the Stargate.

"Daniel, that's a Goa'uld! What the hell are we doing letting them in here?"

"You can sense them? That's amazing! I wonder if they can sense you as well?"

Adam just glared at Daniel waiting for an explanation.

Noticing the look he was getting from his new colleagues he explained, "It's okay. They're different than the Goa'uld. They're similar to them, but they're more the black sheep of the family. In the Goa'uld, a parasitic relationship is formed as the serpent takes over the host. The Tok'ra serpents only enter a willing host, and even then it is a mutual symbiotic relationship. They too are fighting against the Goa'uld, they have been for over 2000 years. Relax! They're the good guys! Come on let's go meet him in the conference room."

They all headed to the conference room, the Immortals following hesitantly as they conversed silently with each other. "Remember that feeling. That is what you will sense when ever you come upon a Goa'uld serpent."

"Creepy feeling."

The Immortals along with Daniel and Teal'c were waiting in the conference room when General Hammond, O'Neill, Sam, and Jacob walked in. Before they entered the room, they could hear the General speaking. "Jacob what brings you here? Is everything all right with the Tok'ra High Council?"

"Yes everything is fine with the Tok'ra. I just came to visit Sam." He stopped speaking when he saw the unfamiliar faces.

"Dad, I'd like to introduce you to the new members of SG-1. This is Dr. Adam Pierson, Duncan MacLeod, and Amanda Darieux. This is my father Jacob Carter."

Handshakes were exchanged across the room, in the background Daniel spoke, "He doesn't sense-" He stopped though when he saw the glare from Adam. The officers of SG-1 looked at Daniel wondering what he was talking about when Jacob spoke up.

"I didn't know you had expanded SG-1."

Jack answered the question, "Yeah well they came on board about three weeks ago."

"Civilians?" he asked the Immortals who replied affirmatively.

"I didn't know that the SGC was open to letting civilians in on the secrets of the Stargate George."

"They bring a unique talent and experience to the team."

"In what?"

The SGC commanders looked at each other not knowing how to answer. Methos took the initiative though, "We're experts on human nature, history, civilizations, warfare, languages, and mythology."

Wanting to direct the conversation away from the Immortals General Hammond spoke, "So Jacob what was it that brings you here?"

Jacob looked at Adam and considered his answer, there was something they weren't telling him, but he would have to leave it for another time. "As I said, I just came to visit Sam. Selmak decided that I needed a little mental R&R."

ooo

**Jack O'Neill's Backyard  
**The next evening

"Dad, do the Tok'ra respect us?"

"What do you mean Sam?"

"I mean if we're allies with the Tok'ra, why don't you guys share stuff with us? Why all the secrets?"

"What are you talking about? We share stuff with you."

"Come on Dad! I bet you barely reveal anything to us. Aren't we on the same side?"

"Of course we are Sam. Where's this coming from?"

"I mean if we're on the same side, then why don't you guys share your technology with us, at least with things that will help us defend Earth? Don't the Tok'ra respect and trust us?"

"Sam what's changed?" Jacob paused and lowered his head as Selmak came to the foreground. "The Tok'ra work with the Tau'ri to destroy the Goa'uld."

"You work with us only when it is to your advantage."

"As do the Tau'ri. We each have our secrets."

"Yes, but the alliance we share is covered in secrets, mainly from you. There needs to be mutual respect and trust from both sides for an alliance to be truly successful. Sometimes I don't think you respect us."

"There are those of us who respect the Tau'ri, and there are some that do not fully respect you. You are new to the battle against the Goa'uld. You display your arrogance and brashness as you travel through the Stargate; you endanger many lives. The Tau'ri are not as advanced as the Tok'ra."

"There's more to this fight than technology."

"It is our technology and cunning that enables us to effectively fight the Goa'uld."

"All I'm saying is that there is more to it than that, and I don't think the Tok'ra see us as equals and I think they should, we've come a long way."

"Indeed." Jacob/Selmak lowered his head as Jacob returned. "Sam, what's gotten into you? Why are you questioning the Tok'ra?"

"I'm sorry dad, I've just been doing a lot of thinking and reanalyzing of our relationships."

"Well I hope you know that my relationship with you will never change Sam."

"I know dad, I didn't mean that. I've just had a lot on my mind the past few weeks. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"It's okay… Sam what's going on?" Sam looked from her dad to the other members of SG-1 at the barbecue. Her gaze then fell on Duncan as she recalled many of the insights she had gained from discussions she had had with Duncan. Noticing her eyes fall on Duncan, Jacob probed further, "Did something happen with them?"

"No. They've just helped open my eyes."

"Who are they Sam?"

"We already told you, they're experts on human interactions." She looked at her dad hoping he would buy it. She saw that he wasn't, she so wanted to tell him about their Immortality, but she remembered her promise. "Dad I'm not lying, they're experts on humanity."

"Sam, I can tell when you're not being honest."

"Dad, I made a promise to them. I'm sorry… They're hiding from their pasts. They're not really trusting with anyone."

"Interesting that they are experts on human interactions and don't trust many people." Realizing that he wasn't going to get anymore information from his daughter, he dropped the matter, "So what have you learned from them?"

"So much Dad, it's amazing the insights I've gained speaking with them, especially with Duncan. He's so smart and grounded. He knows what he knows and what he doesn't; he's so open and honest… It's funny, Adam and Amanda always refer to him as a young boy scout," she told her father as she smiled, thinking how odd it was to them that being four hundred years old still made him young, she wondered what they thought of them as – babies maybe?

Jacob listened to her description and saw her smile and made his own insight, "You like him, don't you?"

Startled from her thoughts and her staring at Duncan, she turned to her father. "What? No!"

"You like him," he stated mildly surprised.

"No… I don't think it's that" she tried to explain.

"Then what is it?"

"Respect… for someone who knows a lot more than I do."

"I doubt that, Sammie!" he teased her.

Sam looked at her father and smiled, if he only knew the truth. "Only when it comes to physics!"

ooo

While Sam and Jacob had been speaking, the others were enjoying themselves at the barbecue Jack was hosting at his home. While Teal'c was taking his turn manning the grill, Daniel and Adam were trying to convince Jack that exploring with knowledge and theories was better than just exploring blindly. They were trying to explain to him some ancient cultures and their impact on current civilization. Duncan and Amanda were talking separately at one of the side tables.

"She likes you, you know?"

"What? Who?"

"'Who?' Come on Duncan don't play naïve with me. Sam's taken to you. I can't say I blame her. But then of course I do have more intimate knowledge of you and I've known you a lot longer."

Duncan considered what she was saying as she touted her immortality, "Amanda, are you jealous?"

"What? Of her?"

"Yes. Does it bug you that someone else may like me?"

"Don't be absurd Duncan, you're not all that!"

"You keep coming back to me!" he reminded her.

"Yes well, I've always had a soft spot for men with accents! Look! She keeps looking over here at you."

"Cut it out Amanda, she doesn't like me. We merely respect one another in a professional manner."

"If that's what you want to tell yourself. She'd be good for you," she added. "Besides, we'll always have Paris, and Istanbul, and London, and Seacouver, and…" she winked at him.

TBC


	10. Price of Immortality

_**Chapter 9 - Price of Immortality**_

**Daniel's Office**  
Two days later

All of SG-1 was gathered in Daniel's office, they had been going over a translation when the discussion had turned philosophical as it often did. "I still do not quite understand this human emotion of regret."

"Teal'c, you may not realize it, but I'm sure you've done stuff that you wish you hadn't."

"That is correct O'Neill. I do not consider my time as First Prime to Apophis as being beneficial to the Tau'ri."

"Yes, but to you, did it affect you?"

"Once I saw what the Goa'uld really were, I did not want to serve them any longer Adam Pierson. But I do not see the point to dwell on the past and regret it… What is done is done. All I can do now is fight against the Goa'uld."

"Very true Teal'c. If we live with our regret, we never escape our past and live. We humans have a hard time letting go, I still have not been able to let go of the regret of what I have done."

Daniel Jackson was curious, "Like what?"

"Things I have done in the past that should stay in the past… After a while you sometimes forgive yourself for what you have done… but you never forget," he told them somberly.

"Come on Adam like what? You can't have that many regrets?"

"Yeah, what? Do you wish you had kissed that girl in Paris over the one in Egypt? You're too good a soldier to have that many regrets!" Jack stated lightly.

Adam's face became deadly serious. "I'm over ten thousand years old… People change Jack. For as many good deeds as I have done, there are evil things I have also done… There are things that one can never forget and are immortalized in human history."

The original SG-1 members looked at each other considering what he had said… Who were they working with? "What did you do?" Daniel quietly asked.

"Terrible things." Realizing that they were not going to drop this, he got up from his chair and walked over to one of the bookshelves in the office. He scanned the titles and finally pulled a book out and handed it to Daniel.

"What about the Bible? Were you Pontius Pilate or something?"

"Worse. Revelations, Chapter 6, Verse 8." Adam turned and left the room sharing a look with Duncan and Amanda, knowing that they would explain. "I'll see you later. Duncan, find me if you want to spar." Duncan nodded his head knowing that he would find him later, knowing that Adam would need to spar to focus and remember that he had changed from who he was.

Daniel, Sam, Jack, and Teal'c shared a look with each other before Daniel opened up the Bible and found what Adam had referred to. He read aloud to them all, "'I looked and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades accompanied him. They were given authority over a quarter of the Earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth.'" The others sat in silence as Daniel reread the passage to himself and read the first part of the chapter. Once he realized what was implied he quietly spoke, "He was Death? He rode with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?"

"He led them."

Their eyes all widened as they realized who they were working with. "I thought it was all just a myth."

"It was very much real. The Horsemen were all Immortals who rode during the Bronze Age for a thousand years. They raped, plundered, pillaged, destroyed, and burned many civilizations."

"He was Death?" Jack was still having a hard time believing this, he was very worried about who they had let join SG-1. "I thought he was a soldier who fought against the Goa'uld."

"He did. But Methos isn't a soldier at heart… He has lived for over ten thousand years; he has seen and done many things. He is a survivor, above all else. I don't condone what he did, but I don't condemn him for what he has done thousands of years ago. He has had to live with the knowledge of what he has done, he doesn't need me judging him."

Duncan paused as he recalled when he had found out and the strain that had put on their friendship. "I did at first, and then I realized that I couldn't condemn him because I myself have had my dark periods… We all make mistakes and we all change. It's just that us Immortals do it more. Don't judge him on his past… He once told me that times were different then, that he was different then. It was one of a thousand regrets. Right now he wants to fight against the Goa'uld, and we need him; that is what is important now."

There was silence in the room before Teal'c spoke, "I too have killed many humans. We each live with our actions separately. Now he is a warrior fighting against the Goa'uld, and I will fight alongside him."

ooo

When Duncan walked into the fitness center Methos was already facing him, alerted to his arrival by the buzz he felt. The two did not exchange any words as they both faced each other and bowed. Duncan barely pulled out his sword in time to deflect Adam's attack. The two sparred with their razor sharp swords for over an hour in complete silence, with only the sound of metal clashing against metal resonating in the room.

Once they had finished they both walked over to the bench to catch their breath. "So, what did they say?"

"That it didn't matter. I think what Teal'c said helped them do that. He reminded them that when he was First Prime he did some atrocious things as well, and he too had changed and was now fighting alongside us to defeat the Goa'uld. They were shocked at first, but I think that was because for them it hit close to home. They're fine with it though. Don't worry."

"The difference between Teal'c and I is that Teal'c was following orders because he believed in something. My actions were my own. We're Immortal MacLeod, we have no one to blame but ourselves for our actions."

Duncan stared at the ground deep in thought. "Darius told me something once, and I never quite understood what it meant until now… He said that the burden of man cannot last forever, but not to be afraid to embrace it and remember."

"I'm not following MacLeod."

"Our regret is our connection to our mortality… It's what allows us to open our eyes to the world around us and the world within ourselves. Once we have seen what we need to see we must remember what we have seen and then let go… Regret can be a beautiful thing if you let it change who you are…"

Methos looked at his young friend. "When did you get so wise?"

MacLeod chuckled, "I don't know but it definitely wasn't from any help I got from you!"

Methos snorted with laughter. They fell into a comfortable silence as they took inventory of their past.

"When they look at me, will they see Death?"

"No, they will see a survivor and a warrior… Besides, since when do you care what others think of you?" he smiled. Duncan stood up and shouldered his sword, "Come on, I'm hungry."

ooo

Later that night

Duncan reclined on his bed after dinner reading a book. Dinner had gone well that evening, despite Methos' apprehensions. The evening had been pleasant as they spoke about other places SG-1 had traveled to and other races they had met. The discussion had then turned humorous as they told funny anecdotes about one another, much to Daniel's dismay as his story about tribal dancing had gotten out. When he heard the knock at the door he rose from his bed to put a shirt on as he invited the person in, "Come in."

"Duncan I just came by to- oh sorry!" she exclaimed as she saw that he wasn't fully dressed yet. She couldn't help but notice his upper body as he slid the shirt over his head. She looked away though before he could see that she had been staring.

Duncan gently smiled when he looked up at her and decided to move the conversation along as he considered how awkward Sam was feeling. "What can I do for you?" he asked her as he walked back over to his bed and sat down against the headboard. "Please, have a seat," he told her as he motioned to the foot of his bed.

Grateful that he was going to ignore the situation, she smiled and sat down on his bed, "Thanks." Noticing that he had a book split open on the bed, she inquired after it, "What are you reading?"

"Crime and Punishment. Have you read it?"

"No, I never got around to it. I was usually reading physics textbooks and papers."

"You should read it. Dostoevsky does an amazing job delving into the mind of a murderer. Here take my copy, I've read it several times already," he told her as he held the book out to her.

"I can't, you're reading it."

"Nonsense. I was just reading some excerpts. The things we talked about earlier reminded me of the book. Please, take it." Once again he offered the book out to her, and after a moment of deciding, she then took the book from his hands.

"Thank you Duncan."

"You're welcome. Now what was it you wanted to see me about?"

"I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

"Why do Amanda and Adam call you a boy scout?"

Duncan smiled at the question, "Because of the way I view the world and how I've lived. I tend to view things very black and white. I'm a warrior who will give everything I have for a cause I believe in, even if it is misguided."

"What kind of causes?"

"I have fought against the British to help free my fellow Scotsmen, I fought against the Germans twice, I fought with the North in the Civil War, I fought in the Revolutionary War of the United States, I have fought and trained with a Samurai. I've fought in a lot of battles in my four hundred years."

"What did you mean then when you said that some of your causes were misguided? The battles you fought were noble and honorable."

"We all have our regrets."

"Like what?"

"I have fought for some noble causes, but sometimes the means I employed were less than honorable. I have had a hard time letting a grudge go; I still have feelings of revenge. During the expansion of the western United States, I went on a killing rampage trying to find the man who had killed an Indian family I had adopted. When I fought against the British, I would kill them indiscriminately, I would show no mercy for they had shown us none." Duncan then noticed the shock in Carter's face, "Don't worry, I've changed. I met other Immortals who were able to help me see past my anger."

Carter was shocked and didn't really know what to say, "What is your biggest regret?"

Duncan's eyes glassed over as he remembered the two darkest periods in his life, "When I killed two very close friends… I was forced to take the head of a friend, a Hayoka Shaman, who took in the evil of the world and had finally taken in too much. When I took his head and his Quickening I absorbed all the evil that he had taken in to save the world… The evil consumed me and I ended up killing a very dear friend of mine, Sean Burns… Then there was Richie."

Sam could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke, she suddenly regretted asking him to elaborate on his life. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up such painful memories."

"It's okay, talking about it helps me cope… Are you familiar with Persian mythology?" he asked her, unsure if they had ever encountered a Goa'uld that had taken to that culture. "Well, there is an evil force called Ahriman that once every millennium challenges an Immortal for protection over the Earth. I was destined to fight against Ahriman, and in our battle he disguised himself as one of my closest friends and pupils, Richie Ryan… Later when the real Richie showed up, I thought he was Ahriman and beheaded him. He was so young; he had only been immortal for four years. I still live with the regret from those events, I will never forget what I did."

"You can't blame yourself for their deaths."

"Part of me knows that, but I was the one who cut their heads off. I thought I could take in the evil that a trained Shaman wasn't even able to control. I was careless when I cut off Richie's head… I was the weapon used to kill them. I couldn't help myself because I didn't know who I was… I can never forget that… That's why I train so much, so that I will never be unaware and as a constant reminder of what I have done…"

"God, how can you handle being an Immortal with so much regret and death?"

Duncan smiled ever so slightly, "There are its good points… the friendships made."

"Even with mortals?"

"Especially with them, they have an innocence to them because they only have that one life, they do not make the tragic mistakes that Immortals sometimes make over and over."

"Don't you ever regret loving them?"

"Never that Sam. Why should one regret something as beautiful as love? Those are the best memories. The same way that the regret stays with you, the love stays with you. I never regretted loving the mortal women I have loved."

"But they all die, doesn't it make it hard to move on?"

"Sometimes, but I never lose hope. It's not a bad thing you know, to not forget the people one loves… In a way, it is their own Immortality."

Sam deeply considered what he was saying and thought of her own life. She realized that what he said was true… Her mother lived on in the memories that Sam held in her heart.

TBC

Sorry for the delay. I hope you are all still enjoying this story.


	11. Warriors

A/N: I'm sorry! I know its been a (long) while since I've updated to this story. I've had some serious writer's block affecting this story, and the two other open stories I have going. And as a peace offering, I offeryou several chapters tonight. I reallydo hope you guys enjoy them, and I'd appreciate you letting me know what you think about it. Reviews really do help the writer, whether they be favorable or constructive criticism. Even if you tell me you think that it is a piece of crap, I won't mind as long as you tell me why and what you'd like to see (can't guarantee that I'm going to change what I have in store for this story...)

With the new additions to the site, I can see that a lot of people have visited this story, but not many people have taken the time to leave a little note. I'm not trying to beg for reviews to make this story look good so others will read it, I truly and honestly want to know what others think of this story. As I said in the beginning, this is the first Stargate and Highlander fic I ever wrote, so its kind of my baby.

Okay done ranting now... Please do go and enjoy the story.

* * *

**_Chapter 10 - Warriors_**

**SGC **  
A few days later

Teal'c silently waited for the elevator on Level 17. On a whim he had stopped by Daniel's office before starting his morning workout. The sight before him as he entered didn't surprise him in the least…

"I'm telling you Daniel, THAT is not a 'parset'! It's clearly a 'meonet' and says that they willingly left, not forced out."

"I think you need a pair of glasses, old man!" Daniel retorted as he reached for the picture again to show him the image as he saw it. He then outlined the image, "See, it's clearly showing an eclipse and thus means they were forced out."

Adam glared at Daniel, "I wouldn't talk about needing new glasses. That is merely a crescent moon and so they left willingly when the time came!"

Teal'c finally stepped into the room, "Daniel Jackson. Adam Pierson."

Both men looked up startled to find the imposing Jaffa in their midst.

Daniel removed his glasses as he looked down at the scattered papers and pictures. "Hey Teal'c." Adam just nodded his head in greeting.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he stepped up to their table. He merely stared at them, he knew that Daniel knew what was on his mind.

"What?" Daniel looked up defensively after a few moments.

One eyebrow climbed up his forehead before he spoke, "I believe O'Neill warned you both to get some sleep last night. Am I correct to assume that neither of you have slept?"

"Well that's a rhetorical question… Better idea! How about I ask you a question?" Adam proposed with the hint of a smile.

Daniel reached his hand out to implore his old friend to stop. He'd been manhandled out of his office several times by Teal'c, a situation which he had vowed never to have repeated. "Teal'c don't mind him… We were just leaving."

Adam stood up and slid the picture he and Daniel had been discussing in front of Teal'c. "No, no… I think we need to have our discussion settled. Teal'c what does this look like to you?"

Teal'c raised his eyebrow at Adam's odd request. He mentally sighed and then looked down at the image in question. After a brief glance he looked up at his coworkers, "It is a rising sun."

"Excuse me?"

"Are you looking at the right image?" Daniel asked as he stepped to stand by his teammate. "That's not a rising sun, there's a moon overhead."

"Indeed. I have awoken on many planets, Earth included, and often times seen a crescent moon as the sun continues on its path through the sky."

"Yes, but that does-" Adam began.

"The rising sun is always depicted with rays of light. Never a setting sun," he calmly explained to them.

Adam and Daniel stared at him blankly as if he were speaking another language. They turned to each other and paused before looking down at the image with fresh eyes.

"Well I'll be…"

"I can't believe we forgot about that…" Daniel quietly muttered.

"That completely changes our interpretation."

"May I suggest a few hours of rest to freshen your minds?"

Daniel waved him off, "No, no… I'll just put on another pot of coffee… We're on a roll now."

Daniel and Adam then leaned over the workbench and began translating once again.

It took less than a minute of Teal'c silently hovering before they recalled his presence in the room.

"If you will not accept my suggestion, I must insist that you both rest."

Adam rolled his eyes, "Teal'c, seriously, I'm thousands of years old, I think I can take care of myself."

"I will be forced to physically remove you from this office."

Adam laughed, "I hardly doubt that you could-"

Teal'c stepped forward as Daniel stepped back and started to sneak out of the room under his own will.

"Adam Pierson. Duncan MacLeod has informed me that you are a formidable opponent in a sword battle…"

Methos knowingly nodded his head in pride.

"… Only because you do not fight fairly and often have hidden weapons."

Methos' amused face fell suddenly as he realized Teal'c's hidden threat. He also knew that he was in fact unarmed. And he didn't quite rely on his own hand-to-hand combat skills against a man twice his size and had been practicing it for almost a century. Whereas he had let that skill waste away with the invention of the gun.

Methos nodded his head and stood up. "I think I'll be going now."

Teal'c bowed, and allowed a small smile to appear on his face as the two historians walked out of the lab…

ooo

He looked up when the elevator pinged and the doors opened. His eyes smiled when he saw who was in the elevator already. "Duncan MacLeod."

"Teal'c, how are you this morning?"

He stepped into the elevator, "I am doing most well." He leaned around Duncan and noticed his gym bag. "Are you going to the gym?"

Duncan nodded.

"Might I join you?"

He turned and smiled, "I'd appreciate the company. Care to do a little sparring?" He'd been wanting to spar against Teal'c for some time now, but they hadn't quite gotten around to it.

Teal'c tilted his head, "Indeed."

Twenty minutes later they faced off against each other in the gym. "Have you ever used a sword?"

"I have not. Perhaps we could use a long stick?"

Duncan nodded as he retrieved the staff-like training sticks and threw one at Teal'c, who easily snatched it from the air. "I used to be quite good with this," he warned.

Teal'c smiled, "I am."

Both men squared off, and bowed to each other. Within moments they were both in a fighting stance. Their battle began with both men circling each other and trying to learn as much as they could about their opponents.

But these men were too good, they knew how to hide their strengths and mislead their opponents with portrayed weaknesses.

Duncan launched the first real attack, one that Teal'c easily dismissed as he defended himself and then launched into his own offensive moves. Within seconds Duncan was on his back looking up at a triumphant Teal'c.

Duncan nodded as he accepted Teal'c's outstretched hand. "Two points."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Two points for a take down, one point for contact with the torso."

Teal'c nodded his head.

"Seeing as to it's the two of us and we can take a bit more pain… No holding back?"

"Indeed." Teal'c was pleased with the situation, it had been awhile since he'd been able to train the way he was shown.

Teal'c was able to land two more blows to MacLeod's chest and back before Duncan made contact between his staff and Teal'c's side.

"I have to admit I'm a bit rusty with the jo… The sword is more my style… You should try it sometime."

"Indeed," Teal'c informed him as he forced Duncan onto his back again.

They continued to fight in silence trading blows with each other and avoiding advances.

"I have to admit," Duncan spoke with a bit of difficulty, "I haven't trained with someone so good in a while…"

Teal'c accepted the compliment wordlessly as he saw an opening in Duncan's advance.

He brought his staff across his body and aimed for Duncan's head, only to have Duncan sidestep by as he brought his own staff up and crashed it against Teal'c's back.

But Teal'c anticipated the move and spun with the arcing staff.

Seeing the change in movement, Duncan countered and brought the near end of the staff up to hit Teal'c in the chest.

His staff was firmly halted though a few inches from its target. Teal'c's right hand was firmly wrapped around the far end of the staff, the one that was used to attack his back.

MacLeod found himself facing Teal'c's back with his right hand outstretched grasping his staff and preventing his attack. He noted that Teal'c's head was half cocked to him and had a determined look.

And that's when Teal'c made his move. With a pivot and upward movement of his outstretched hand, he reached under his other arm with his left and grabbed hold of the staff and pulled downward in a move that wrested the weapon from his opponent. His arms and staff continued in a quick motion as he pulled his left hand back and brought his right hand and staff quickly down to Duncan's neck, stopping less than an inch away.

Duncan blinked as he looked into Teal'c's face. The respect between these two warriors was solidified. Duncan bowed his head in defeat.

Teal'c tilted his head and stepped back. "You are a most worthy opponent Duncan MacLeod."

Duncan chuckled, "You're not so bad yourself." They both walked over to the benches and toweled the sweat from their bodies as they drank from their water bottles. "Care to go it without weapons?"

"I would enjoy the opportunity."

He nodded with pleasure, he definitely felt more comfortable with his bare hands than with a staff. And no matter how big and strong Teal'c was, Duncan had been practicing the martial arts for over 200 years.

Within minutes it was evident that Duncan was the superior opponent, but Teal'c still held his own and was able to block several attacks that would have had lesser men on their backs.

Every once in a while Teal'c was able to land a crushing a blow of his own. But those were few and far between.

Duncan had just finished throwing Teal'c to the ground when their battle was interrupted by the sound of clapping. Both men looked over to the entrance and found Jack O'Neill there.

"How's it feel Teal'c to be the one someone wipes the mat with?"

Teal'c stood up and bowed to O'Neill recalling their conversation from weeks earlier.

"Duncan MacLeod is indeed samurai."

Duncan turned to the warrior beside him, "You have the honor and strength of the samurai as well."

Teal'c turned to him and held out his right hand, and in the fashion of the Jaffa culture they gripped each others forearms and sealed their bond as brothers.

TBC


	12. Price of Technology

**_Chapter 11 - Price of Technology_**

**SGC**  
Several weeks later

Duncan and Amanda entered Sam's research laboratory to get a lesson on crystal systems from Teal'c and Sam. They were discussing the intricacies of Goa'uld systems and crystal power boards for over two hours when Jack walked in, "Hey kids, what's up?"

"We were just going over crystal power schematics, sir. We thought that with Amanda's ability to bypass systems and move around undetected, it would be wise to familiarize her with some Goa'uld technology."

"Good call." Jack hung around the room while the others stared at him, unsure why exactly he had come down. He finally noticed that they were all looking at him, "What? Don't mind me, carry on."

The others looked at each other before returning their attention to the Goa'uld technology in front of them. Just as they were about to delve deep into the subjects Jack spoke up again, "Oh by the way Carter, how's it coming with the naquadria?"

"Fine sir, it's still very unstable, but I think I'm making progress in my simulations."

Amanda spoke up, "What's naquadria?"

"It's an unstable metal that isn't found in our solar system. It's a very strong fuel source and has very powerful explosive capabilities."

"So it's like plutonium?"

"Yes, only much stronger."

Amanda continued on, "Did I ever tell you that I knew Oppenheimer, Einstein, and many of the other scientists on the Manhattan Project? No, well do you know what they would tell you? They'd tell you to stop because you are a playing with a fire that you cannot control."

"I know what I'm doing Amanda, we're taking all the proper precautions."

"I'm not talking about now, I'm talking about later. Do you remember what Oppenheimer quoted from the Bhagavad Gita? 'I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.' Well, here we really do have the capabilities to become destroyers of worlds - we have the whole galaxy at our disposal! I trust you, it's just the rest of the military I have a hard time trusting, Major! You don't exactly know the power you are developing here!"

Jack answered, "Slow down there! We know what we're doing."

"That's what the Kelownans thought before Daniel died!" Amanda exclaimed before storming out of the room.

"What's her problem?" Jack asked.

"She's not really into the whole war thing."

"I didn't know a thief would have such high moral standards."

"Don't confuse being a thief with not valuing human lives," Duncan pointed out. "Yes, she steals, but only inanimate objects- she loves the thrill of it. She's never been a fighter or fought in battles, I don't think she's ever killed a mortal."

"She reminds me of the Tollan and the Tok'ra."

"How's that?"

"They got a weird sense of morality… They fight against the Goa'uld, but they don't want to share their technology with us, technology that would help protect Earth against the Goa'uld."

"Can you blame them"  
"Wait, you agree with them?" Jack asked incredulously. "I thought you were on our side!"

"I am Jack, it's just that I have seen the evolution of man for four hundred years, as well as the evolution of our technology. Technology and humans must evolve together; one can't take a giant leap without the other. As our technology changes, humans are able to adapt and slowly change their way of thinking to fully take advantage of the technology. If we acquire some technology that is hundreds of years more advanced than us, then we skip that time necessary to consider the benefits and ramifications of it. It's like giving a gun to a four-year old, they don't know what it is exactly. And one may be lucky and the child may not hurt someone with the gun, but maybe they find the trigger when they are pointing it at a friend."

Sam worriedly looked over at her CO as Duncan provided his example. She saw all emotion leave his face as he recalled the tragic event that had befallen his son, who instead of pointing the gun at a friend had pointed it at himself.

Duncan, unaware of Jack's history, noted a tension that fell on the other occupants in the room, centering on Jack. Sensing that he had hit a nerve, Duncan moved on from his example and spoke gently. "A technology is only as useful as the people who employ it are. I think that is why the Tollan and the Tok'ra are hesitant to share technology with us, they more fully understand all the implications from some of the technology they have. I doubt they are denying us access to be mean, but rather looking out for our own interests."

'Like a parent…' Jack noted in his mind.

"The alliances you have with them are still valuable; there is a lot we can learn from them. We have the advantage of not repeating some of the mistakes they have made if we ask them. I bet though, that the more knowledge you gain from them and patience you show them, the more they'll come around and trust us to share their technology… It's a matter of earning respect and wisdom… Who you are depends on who you meet in your life."

Still considering Duncan's argument, Jack asked for his advice, "Then how do we defend ourselves?"

"Continue to do what you have done, form alliances and learn. Use that which you fully understand because you have developed it or studied it for a very long time. Think about it, my katana is not just a sword… It has become an extension of my body."

With his last statement, Sam realized what Duncan had truly meant when he had become a weapon and beheaded two of his friends. His lack of control of his mind and body had led to two murders. Duncan wasn't upset about his lack of control of his movements, it was the loss of his control over his mind that he regretted.

"I have studied the sword and the art of sword fighting for hundreds of years. I can control my sword as well as I control my hand. I also respect the power of the sword and only use it when necessary. I know we can't change your mind about the research you do, but we merely want to make sure that you really do understand what you are about to undertake on your shoulders." Duncan looked at them all and then turned and quietly left the room to find Amanda.

Teal'c, Sam and Jack remained in the room silently processing Duncan's argument.

Jack was the first to break the silence, "I never thought of it that way…" He turned on his heels and exited the laboratory to think about it even more.

ooo

Teal'c found Jack sitting in the commissary alone, nursing a cup of coffee. He walked up to his table, and without a word, sat down in front of his friend. He watched his friend in silence with his hands folded in front of him, waiting for Jack to say anything if he so felt the inclination.

"I didn't warn him enough about guns," Jack admitted barely above a whisper as he continued to stare at his hands, as if they still carried the blood of his dead son. "I was always so careful about my gun, that I never thought he would get to it… I thought I had nothing to worry about… I failed him."

Teal'c bowed his head, he knew there was nothing he could say that would take the guilt off his friend's shoulders.

They sat in silence for several more minutes, Jack thinking of the parallels between his own situation, and that of the human race on Earth.

"We are children aren't we?" Jack looked up at his friend.

Teal'c paused before answering. "I believe there is wisdom in Duncan MacLeod's words, O'Neill. The Free Jaffa are equally new to this battle against the Goa'uld and learning how to live on their own… We are all mere children to another race…" Teal'c raised his head a little higher with hope and pride, "But I believe that what the Asgard told you is true."

Jack stared at him as he tried to recall what he was referring to. "That we have 'great potential'?"

"Indeed."

ooo

"Amanda, what's wrong?"

Amanda looked up over the bed she was sitting against and was pleased to see Duncan, "I don't know."

"Come on Amanda, talk to me. I've never seen you go into someone like that," he told her as he walked over to the bed and sat down beside her on the floor.

"I know. I just… I don't know if I can stay here."

"What do you mean?"

"Mac, they're playing with fire! They're putting the whole planet at risk by going through the Stargate."

"Yes, but what's done is done. The Goa'uld already know about Earth, if they sit and do nothing then Earth will be lost. They've got no choice but to keep going through to prepare for the Goa'uld."

"But we're a protected planet! They can't come here."

"Come on, you don't believe that."

"I know, it's just…"

"What?"

"I never told you, but I was in Europe during World War II. I met someone there who was trying to protect the drawings of Milo Rambaldi… Rambaldi was an architect, mathematician, inventor, and prophet from the 1400's. He created hundreds of schematics for technology that did not exist yet. The man was smart enough to hide them away so that they wouldn't be found before the world was ready for it. Well the SS found out about some of his work, and went looking for it. Could you imagine the power they would have had if they found those notebooks? The world was and still isn't prepared for some of his inventions… I helped the man secret away some of the notebooks, but the SS got to him and tortured and killed him."

"You knew him didn't you? Rambaldi?"

"Yes. I was breaking into his apartment to steal some trinkets when I saw some of his drawings. He caught me and we ended up talking. He told me that it was a curse to know so much but not be able to share it with the world because we were not ready for it yet."

"The Cassandra complex," Duncan added.

"Yes… We became lovers. He taught me a lot about the philosophy of technology."

"I see… I trust them to know what they are doing though," he confided in her.

"Yeah, but what about later and the consequences?" she asked him. The ones who developed a technology often weren't the ones who had to deal with the fallout of it.

"Well that's why we are around, to make them think about those things and to check up on it in fifty years!" he told her with a smile. "Besides you can't leave. We need you. I think we are the key to stopping the Goa'uld. And not just here on Earth, but throughout the galaxy."

"Thanks, no pressure at all!" She turned to Duncan and gave him a hug. She really did love this man. "Mac, your wanting to stay and help doesn't have anything to do with feelings for Sam does it?"

"No!" he laughed, he loved seeing Amanda when she was jealous.

"Are you sure? She's always around you, asking you questions and all…"

"So?"

"What's up with that? Is there a mutual attraction between the two of you?"

"I don't know… There's something about her that draws me to her… She's like a student, she really wants to learn and understand our way of thinking… I respect her," Duncan revealed.

"You always did have a-" She was interrupted by a knock on the door, "Come in."

"Amanda? It's Sam."

Both Amanda and Mac stood up from the floor to face her. "Hi. I'm sorry about earlier, it just brought up a lot of memories."

"I understand. I hope you can understand though why we have to proceed forward."

"Thanks to Mac."

"I'm glad… Well, we have a briefing now in the conference room. Apparently Adam and Daniel made some key discoveries."

"On what?"

"I'm not exactly sure, I know they were working on the writings from Heliopolis, where the alliance of the four great races met."

They all headed down to the conference room together. They were the last to arrive and once they took their seats, Daniel began.

"The past few days Adam and I have been going over the inscriptions we recovered from Heliopolis. Using Adam's knowledge of what Rames taught him and my knowledge of the Ancients we were able to translate everything. It's actually quite a fascinating language. If you look here you can-"

"Daniel!" Jack exclaimed with a distant look. "What'd you find?"

"Right. They talk about an alternate meeting site; they call it Altanobu, which means Our Other Planet. It says to access this other planet one has to travel to another planet first, and there they'd find the address for Altanobu."

"Great, what's the address for the intermediate planet?"

"We've actually been there before, it's Vis Uban."

General Hammond spoke, "We didn't find anything there but you."

"Maybe you didn't look deep enough, but we need to go back. There's something there that will tell us how to get to Altanobu."

"Very well then. Colonel, get your team prepped to leave within the hour."

"Yes sir"

TBC


	13. Lightening Strikes

**_Chapter 12 - Lightening Strikes_**

**Vis Uban**

"So where should we start Daniel?"

"Probably in the town, find out if they know of any other ancient discoveries or ruins other than the one you searched a year ago."

"Okay then, let's head out. Carter you lead the way." They then started the trek to the town where they had met up with Daniel over a year ago.

When they reached a fork in the road, Duncan stopped and looked down the other path. Jack came up beside him and also looked down the path. "What?"

"I don't know. Do you know what's down that path?"

"Nope. Daniel! What's down this other path?" They all stopped as they waited for Daniel's reply.

"Uh, not much. Just some fields and a river bed. Actually, I was found in one of the fields over there."

"Why? What is it?"

Duncan was slow to respond as he continued to look around, "Colonel, I think we should go down this way first."

"Why?"

"I don't know, it's a hunch. I doubt the inhabitants will be much help, you guys said they were nomadic and so they probably don't keep records or care about artifacts or ruins."

"Sorry, I don't work off hunches. Let's keep moving."

Duncan placed his hand on Jack's arm, "Colonel, then let me go down there alone."

Jack looked around considering the situation. Finally he gave in to Duncan's request, "Okay. Teal'c, Daniel, Adam, and Amanda you guys head on into town. Carter you're with us."

SG-1 then split into the aforementioned groups, with one heading towards the town and the other into the fields. They'd been walking for five minutes when Duncan stopped again and then turned all the way around checking all of his surroundings. He then stopped when he was facing east and pointed towards a field. "Over there."

"What about it?"

"That's where we need to go."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm just getting a buzz, kind of similar to what I get from Adam and Amanda."

Jack shrugged his shoulders and held his hand out signaling to Duncan that he should lead the way. After another few minutes they reached a small circle of boulders below a cliff wall. "This is it," seeing the look of confusion on Jack and Sam's face he continued, "see that? There are some markings on some of the rocks. This has to be it."

"Okay, are you sure?" Getting a nod he flipped on his two-way and called for the others to join them.

Half an hour later they were all together and approached the formation together. Daniel and Adam attacked the rocks first looking at the markings on the rocks trying to see if they could decipher anything. Amanda and Teal'c milled about outside of the ring while Sam and Jack walked around on the inside studying their surroundings. Duncan stood in the middle quietly as he turned all around looking at the surroundings. Finally he stopped when he was staring at the looming cliff wall above them. After a few minutes of studying the rocks, Adam spoke. "I think that this is like a keypad. Enter the right code and the location for Altanobu is revealed. Problem is, I don't know which ones to hit and in what order."

Suddenly, the Immortals all felt a strong buzz in their presence, even though they couldn't see anyone for several hundred yards, well beyond their range. "Mac do you feel that?"

"Yeah. It's sort of similar to Daniel's buzz." After a moment of everyone looking around them to see who was around, Duncan closed his eyes and focused his energy. After a minute he raised his hand and pointed to a rock with his eyes still closed, "There."

Everyone stared at Duncan and the location where he was pointing at, "What about it?"

Duncan took a few moments to reply as he himself tried to understand what exactly it was that he was feeling. "It starts there. Touch it." Daniel looked at Jack for orders who just shrugged his shoulders not really knowing what was going on, he then nodded his head and so Daniel walked over to the indicated stone and touched it. Duncan did this seven more times, for a total of eight rocks. When the last stone had been touched, nothing happened initially. All of a sudden there was a roar of a large rock being slid against another rock. They all looked at the cliff wall and saw that a circular opening was being revealed to them. Once the opening was three feet in diameter a bolt of lightening raced out and struck Duncan. What followed was a barrage of lightening bolts coming from the opening, the rocks, and the ground below him. Once the first blast had come flying out, everyone dove out of the inner area of the ring, except for Duncan who was stuck there.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack demanded to know.

"I don't know; it looks like a Quickening!" Methos yelled back.

"Well how do we get him out of there?"

"We can't, not until it's over."

Sam spoke up next, "we don't even know for sure that it is one of those Quickenings. We have to get him out of there."

"We can't!" Methos yelled, "he has to do this on his own!"

As the flood of lightening bolts started to slow they could look towards the center of the ring and they all saw something that shocked them. "Look!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Who the hell are they?" Jack asked referring to the luminescent beings that stood at each of the rocks surrounding Duncan. As quickly as it had started, the fireworks show ended as Duncan fell to his hands and knees. Once they saw that it was over they all rushed to Duncan's side. "MacLeod, what happened?"

"I'm not sure. I'm still trying to sort it out, I just need to rest for a little," having said that he collapsed to the ground and passed out.

As he fell, Carter rushed to check his pulse, "He's alive! Barely though, his pulse is weak."

Everyone's attention was focused on Duncan when Teal'c spoke up, "O'Neill."

"What is it Teal'c?" Jack asked without taking his eyes off Duncan.

"The cliff wall is now open. It appears to lead to a lighted cave."

Looking up, they all saw what Teal'c was referring to. "Wow! Carter, Amanda you stay with Duncan. The rest of us, let's go check it out. Teal'c you take point."

Teal'c bowed his head before leading the men off to the entrance of the cave. Once inside they found a temple room with its walls filled with writings and in the center they found an altar. Sitting on top of the altar they found four objects: a rock, a pool of water, a flame, and a tree branch. Adam and Daniel immediately started taking pictures of the room, while Teal'c and Jack headed back outside.

"Come on Mac, wake up?" Amanda pleaded. She was starting to worry because he wasn't responding to them at all.

"I've lost his pulse! Sir, we need to get back to the SGC!"

"She's right. Something's different- I can feel it in his buzz! We need to get him out of here!" Amanda exclaimed.

Jack, unsure what exactly was going on, hesitated. "Doesn't he come back to life though soon?"

"Yes, but I'm telling you something's not right. Please Jack!"

Jack looked down again, "Okay. Teal'c, can you carry him?"

"I can O'Neill," he replied as he walked over to Mac's limp body and picked it up and started to walk back to the gate.

Jack headed back to the altar to speak to Adam and Daniel while Sam and Amanda accompanied Teal'c and Duncan. "Hey, come on let's go."

"Jack we're not done yet. There's so much here to note and record."

"MacLeod's down, he's dead."

Continuing to take pictures of the walls Adam replied, "He's Immortal Jack. He can't die unless he loses his head."

"Yeah, well Amanda thinks something's wrong. He passed out for a while and then just died. Amanda said something was different about his buzz. So come on, we're leaving."

Adam tried to put away his concern for Mac, but he knew that he had to finish recording the images within the altar. "Look we need to finish recording the stuff here. We'll catch up with you in fifteen minutes."

Jack looked down at his watch and replied. "You guys got ten minutes to wrap it up here, then head for the Stargate," he told them as he left to catch up with the rest of his team.

TBC

I thought about leaving you all with a cliffhanger, but decided against it. So go on and find out what happens to Duncan.


	14. Reborn

**_Chapter 13 - Reborn_**

**SGC**

General Hammond walked into the gate room wondering why they were returning so soon. "What happened Colonel?" he asked before he saw Teal'c come through carrying Duncan, "Get MacLeod down to the infirmary now!" They all followed Duncan's body to the infirmary.

On the way there, Adam caught up with Jack and General Hammond and spoke with them quietly, "We have to tell Dr. Frasier about us. I don't want anyone else in the room though. We have to let her know before they start checking him out and see that he's dead."

General Hammond looked at Adam as they walked and agreed with his assessment. "Very well. I'll take care of it." When they got there General Hammond cleared the entire room except for Dr. Frasier who was shocked at the break from protocol.

Intent on helping her patient she walked over to Duncan's body and took a pulse. "He's got no pulse! Sam, bring me the crash cart! What happened?"

All of SG-1 looked at each other not quite sure how to reply. "Look if I don't know what happened, I won't know the best way to help him!"

Adam was the first to respond, "He was struck by lightening, several times. There's nothing you can do doctor. He has to come out of this on his own."

"What are you talking about? He's dead. Sam, bring me the crash cart!" she ordered again as she began chest compressions

"Don't bother Sam. It won't do anything. Doctor, there's something I have to tell you."

"General what's going on here? I have to help him!"

"You can't, he's Immortal."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Frasier asked as she stopped the chest compressions and looked up at Adam.

Adam repeated what he said, "He's Immortal. He can't permanently die, unless you cut off his head. He's dead now, but he'll come back to life, his body can heal itself."

"General Hammond do you actually believe this?"

"Yes Dr. Frasier."

"General!"

"Dr. Frasier, watch," and with that Adam reached for a scalpel and sliced open his palm. Frasier stopped administering CPR when she saw the small electrical currents race over the wound and heal the wound.

"My God. This is amazing," once the shock of what she had just seen wore off, she turned back to look at Duncan. "So what do we do?"

"We wait for him to come back. It shouldn't take that much longer," Adam told them.

As they waited, General Hammond demanded answers, "Upstairs everyone, I want to know what happened out there." All of SG-1 headed to the observation room above the infirmary, except for Amanda who stayed with Duncan. Once they were alone, he asked again, "What happened?"

"I don't know sir. He was standing in the middle of a circle of rocks and he told us what order of rocks to touch. Once we'd completed the sequence an opening in a rock wall started to appear, and then bolts of lightening came out of there and hit Duncan, repeatedly."

"General when the lightening strikes were coming with less frequency, we saw something else."

"Saw what?" Hammond asked.

Daniel spoke again, "We saw some luminescent figures standing around Duncan. I think they were the Ancients."

"I think he's right, sir," Jack agreed. "He led us to that place because he kept sensing things."

"Is that right Dr. Pierson?"

Adam who was ignoring the discussion going on behind him as he looked down at MacLeod's body, talked to himself, "Come on Mac, wake up." He saw Amanda look up at him and share a concerned look with him, he had been down for almost an hour now without being revived. Neither of them had been dead that long, only their first death took a long time to recover from, Mac had died hundreds of times. "Why did he pass out?" he asked himself a little louder.

"What was that?" Jack asked as he came closer.

Still not taking his eyes off Mac, he continued. "Amanda's right, something's not right. He should have come back to life by now. Only the first death takes a long time to wake up from. I don't get why he passed out after the Quickening. We've both had much worse ones…"

"What exactly are the Quickenings?" Sam asked.

"Whenever an Immortal takes the head of another Immortal the loser's life force, or Quickening, is transferred to the victor, usually accompanied by bolts of electricity that are drawn from the ground and the surroundings. I've never passed out completely from getting someone's Quickening, let alone dying. Something's not right!"

"What can we do?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know!" he exclaimed as he headed down to Duncan's bedside.

When Amanda saw Adam enter she looked up, "Methos what's going on? Why isn't he waking up?"

"I don't know. Come on Mac, wake up. You can't die on us."

Amanda leaned down to his ear and whispered as a tear started to form in her eye, "Mac I need you! I can't lose you."

The others entered the room again as Methos raged on, "Damn it Mac! Wake up! You can't die! You're the perfect Immortal!" In his rage, he finally decided to act. He reached to the counter and grabbed some scissors and began to cut away his shirt, as he yelled at Dr. Frasier, "Get the defibrillator!"

"I thought you said that he wakes up on his own."

"He should, but he's not! My god…" he stated as he looked down at Duncan's chest which was covered in blackened blistering skin. "Come on doc, shock him!"

"Okay," she told him as she ran over with the defibrillator and started to charge it. "Charging…. Clear!" She then depressed the buttons on the paddles and sent a shock through MacLeod's body.

Carter, who had run over to the table once Methos had jumped into action, checked his neck for a pulse. "I've got a pulse!"

Everyone in the room closed in on the table as they watched Janet check over his body. Amanda was the most relieved as she leaned her forehead down on Duncan's and spoke quietly, "Thank you God!"

They were all standing around the bed when the little electrical currents began to race across his body repairing the damage that had been done from the lightening strikes. They noticed though that a scar was left on Duncan's left chest, a raised scar in the shape of an X with an infinity symbol intersecting at the center of the X. "What is that?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, it wasn't there before. Immortals don't scar."

"He's coming around," Frasier told the group as she continued to monitor his vitals. "Duncan can you open your eyes?" Slowly they saw Duncan open his eyes and focus on the group surrounding him. "Good. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been struck by lightening," he quietly replied, "repeatedly. What happened?"

"You died MacLeod," Adam told him. "You took in something like a Quickening and died."

"That explains the headache."

Dr. Frasier then took the opportunity to speak, "Alright everyone out. He needs to rest and regain his strength… I think…"

Duncan looked from Janet to Methos, "It's okay she knows… What do you expect Mac? You were dead for over an hour."

"That long? What happened?"

"We'd like to ask you the same thing," Jack told him.

"Not now though, I want him to rest and I'd like to run some more tests on him."

"Very well Dr. Frasier. Let us know when you've cleared him. Come on, I want to know exactly what happened in more detail."

TBC

Okay that's all for now... Please remember to review.


	15. The Prophecy

A/N: I'm back and I'm sorry for the four months of silence on this and the other unfinished story I have on the web. Here are four chapters to keep you going. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

* * *

**Chapter 14 - _The Prophecy_**

SGC

"Dr. Frasier just cleared Mr. MacLeod, he's on his way up. Continue Dr. Jackson."

"Yes sir. As I was saying about the ring and the activation, there are some very familiar things about it."

"Like what Dr. Jackson?"

"Well, first of all there were thirty-nine rocks in the circle. And we had to touch eight rocks to activate it, and when we did an opening was formed and lightening came out of it."

"Which means what?" Jack asked with an unsure look on his face.

"The Stargate, sir," Sam replied as she realized what he was saying. "The Stargate has thirty nine chevrons, and we have to call up seven of them to activate the wormhole. Only on Vis Uban we opened up a rock wall, and instead of creating an event horizon, lightening came out. Think about it, the Ancients created the Stargate, and while Duncan was getting attacked we saw what appeared to be some of the Ancients. I think Daniel's right sir, I think that was something akin to a Stargate."

"What about the eighth chevron that we touched?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure sir. When you had the Ancients database downloaded into your mind we learned that an eighth chevron could be added to give an additional distance factor. It's possible that this is a similar thing."

"She's partially right," Duncan told them as he entered.

Amanda ran up to him to greet him again, "Mac! Are you alright? I thought I'd lost you."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he told her as he led them to chairs around the conference table.

"It's good to see you on your feet Mr. MacLeod," the General told him.

"Thank you General. And please, all my friends call me Mac."

"Well thanks there buddy!" Jack told him with a smile.

"I said you could call me Mac, not buddy," he replied with a laugh that spread throughout the room.

"So what do you mean that Sam's right?" Daniel asked once the moment had passed.

"The rocks were an access number, but this one required eight. It doesn't travel through space or anything special like that, it only offers entrance to those who need to know."

"And you needed to know?"

"I don't know if I needed to know, but I know that one of us," indicating himself, Adam, and Amanda, "was necessary to gain access to the temple."

Sam was the first to ask, "How do you know that we accessed a temple?"

Duncan looked down as he tried to form his thoughts and words to explain it to them. "Whenever I take a Quickening, I take that person's power. Well this was something similar to it, except that instead of power, it was knowledge. I don't know what it all means, I just know that I have a lot more facts in my head than before we went there."

"Like what?" General Hammond asked.

"Well sir, I know what was on the other side of the rock wall, an altar with four objects on it: a flame, a rock, a tree branch, and a pool of water. I know that I'll be able to read the inscriptions on the walls. I know where the Altar of Stones is and I know where Altanobu is. I know that there is a prophecy. I don't know how I know it or how much more is catalogued in my mind, but I just do."

"The Quickening you experienced must have been like what Jack experienced. You must have had the knowledge of the Ancients downloaded into your mind. But the knowledge he acquired took several days for it to manifest itself in his actions, not a few hours. It eventually took over his mind. How is that you are accessing it already?"

"I don't know. There's knowledge in there and I don't know if I can access it all right now."

"Yeah, whatever. Just in case you start speaking like the Ancients, where's the Altar of Stones and where's Altanobu?" Jack asked.

"Here. Altanobu is Earth. And the Altar of Stones is Stonehenge."

"What? Earth is the secondary meeting place of the Four Great Races?"

"No, you translated the inscriptions from Heliopolis incorrectly. It didn't say that Altanobu was a secondary meeting site, it said that it was where the second era would begin."

"Related to that prophecy you mentioned?" Sam asked.

"No," he quickly stated.

"What's the prophecy?" Methos asked.

Duncan started to speak in an unknown language, not even Daniel understood it. Once he finished, he paused and continued on in English, "The prophecy is: One will be born on the dark day who will harbor great powers. He will become three in one. He will know both true evil and true good. And he will gather an army from across the races and destroy the Evil Ones."

"What's it mean?"

"I don't know. That's the thing with prophecies, you don't really understand them until they come true."

"And this prophecy will be fulfilled here on Earth?"

"The Ancients believe it will. I think Stonehenge is important for that."

"How do you know? And when?"

"I don't know for sure. I just have a feeling that that is where the prophesied one will become three in one. I don't know the when."

"Even if it is, that's where we can contact the Ancients, right?" Jack asked to make sure that he understood the situation correctly. He received several nods in reply. "General, I recommend that we take a little trip to England."

"Approved, but before you go I want to know everything that you can remember Duncan. I want you to work with Drs. Jackson and Pierson on the translations from inside the temple before you leave. I also want Dr. Frasier to monitor you over the next few days, especially your brain patterns."

* * *

One week later

"That's right. Occasionally the Ancients have been coming to Earth to check up on us and the prophecy. They came to Earth and appeared as Immortals. For them, it was just a small leap to their evolutionary cousins."

"And the ones who came were…?"

"It started a little over ten thousand years ago, before Ra came. The Ancients previously hadn't thought that Earth would be where the prophecy would come true, but then they saw the Immortals here among us. They saw our potential. The first one to come was Rames, he's the one who reported to the Ancients about us Immortals. Apparently they hadn't encountered them anywhere else in the universe. They also haven't found any Immortals in any of the transplanted Earth civilizations; they think that there must be something specific to Earth's environment that has allowed for our existence here and not anywhere else. After Rames left, they sent several more Ancients to check up on us, some of the more notable ones were Rahaja, Reena, Romino and Ramirez. Apparently Ramirez was the first to betray the code of the Ancients when he told Connor about the Goa'uld," Duncan told them. He did not however share with them the suspicions he had concerning the origins of the Immortals and the Ancients of Earth.

"So the Ancients have been here on Earth for the past ten thousand years… That's incredible, I've traveled across the galaxy to find them when all this time they were here on Earth!" Daniel said amazed at the situation.

"Actually they haven't sent anyone since Ramirez. Since he betrayed the code, he was left to suffer his fate here, alone. He never re-ascended and told them what he learned. They think he's still here on Earth, alive."

Methos, who had been sitting there quietly and listening intently, finally spoke up, "Hey Mac, you want to go topside?"

Jack looked at him confused at the question from left field, "What?"

"What?" Adam innocently asked, hoping that they wouldn't pry too much.

"You want to leave? We're leaving tomorrow morning for England."

"Yeah, I know. I just thought that maybe Mac might want to get out of here and get some fresh air and maybe a drink. So what do you say Mac?"

Duncan stared at Methos and could tell that there was something else on Methos' mind. He had noticed over the past week how Methos had been very distant and content on just listening to what Duncan was saying. "Sounds good to me. When do you want to leave?"

"Hey, slow down. How about we all go out then and relax together?" Jack was slightly uncomfortable letting his prized Immortals go out where who knows who they would run into.

Duncan ignored Jack and answered Methos, "How about twenty minutes. Let me just go back to my room and get my stuff." Before anyone could stop him, Duncan left Daniel, Sam, Jack, and Adam alone in Daniel's office. Once he retrieved his sword he went to the science lab to talk to Amanda and explain that he had to go speak with Methos alone outside the mountain.

"Whoa, what do you guys need swords for?" Jack asked as he realized that Duncan was going to get his sword.

"We're Immortal Jack, we never leave home without it!"

"Are you expecting someone?"

"No, we just feel safer with it just in case. Relax Jack, I'll have him back here by morning," he told him as he turned to leave himself.

"Morning? No, sorry I can't let you guys go."

Adam turned around to face Jack, "Jack, I have to talk with Duncan, alone."

"Do it here!"

"We need to go someplace holy."

"Why?"

"Because that is the only place where an Immortal is truly safe, an Immortal will not take another's head on holy ground."

"Why does he have to be safe? What's he need to be protected from?"

"He has to prepare, and to do that he needs to feel absolutely safe."

"Prepare for what?"

"I'm not sure. I just have a hunch."

"Well, fill us in on your hunch. So far you Immortals have had some pretty good hunches, I'll listen."

"Jack, please trust me. I have to speak with him alone."

"Damn it Adam, this is unacceptable!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way Jack, but it has to be this way. We'll be back by first light tomorrow morning." He then turned to leave before Jack could get anything else in to say.

"Damn it! What the hell is going on? Do you guys know what they are going to talk about?"

"No sir. What should we do?" Sam wondered.

"Follow them I guess. I'm not going to let anything happen to them, not now."

"Jack, don't," Daniel quietly told him.

"Daniel? Do you know something you're not telling me?"

"No, it's just that… I don't know, but Adam knows what he's doing. Hell, he's over ten thousand years old Jack"

TBC


	16. Believe

**Chapter 15 - _Believe_**

A Zen Buddhist Monastery in Denver  
Later that night

"So what is it Methos?"

"Duncan, do you remember specific details from the life of someone who you just took the Quickening of?"

"No, why?"

"Neither do I, all I get from the Quickening is tendencies and preferences for other things, but even then, only for a while. Yet somehow you remember something that Ramirez told Connor, about the Goa'uld and Stonehenge being important. How can you explain that?"

Duncan paused as he considered what he was hearing. "I can't. How did I know that?"

"I'm not sure, but let me continue. Cassandra told you that you fulfilled a prophecy right?"

"Yeah, that a foundling child born on the Winter Solstice would be the one to stand before death and fight a great evil. So? That prophecy was already fulfilled according to Cassandra."

"And you do know true evil don't you?" Methos paused as he let what he had said sink in knowing that it was still painful for Duncan, "The prophecy she told you was about the one who had seen both darkness and light. You had a dark quickening, you know true evil and you were true evil."

Duncan still regretting what he had done in his past gave a sharp retort, "You've done some pretty evil things yourself Methos, you were Death!"

"Yes, I did evil things. But I wasn't evil by nature, I merely chose the wrong thing then, you were evil seven years ago. The forces of evil flowed through you and you had no control over who you were. I know you regret it because you have seen the light MacLeod!" He paused to let Mac consider what he was saying. "You were also destined to fight against Ahriman five years ago. You see, you are inherently good and know the right thing to do. That's why you are the perfect immortal and why I couldn't let you sacrifice yourself five years ago, you've been on both sides and really understand it, and you chose the right side!"

"What are you getting at Methos?"

"Duncan you were destined for great things, including fighting evil. I think the prophecy Cassandra told you about was just the tip of the iceberg, it's been your entire life. You have consistently fought against evil, even the evil within you. And think about it, the Winter Solstice?"

"What of it?"

"It's the shortest day of the year. And also the darkest day of the year."

"Are you implying what I think you are? Come on Methos!" he exclaimed with a half unsure smile on his face.

"Think MacLeod. I've spent this past week thinking about the prophecy and you."

"Are you crazy Methos?"

"Not in the least MacLeod! I think you have been preparing for this moment your entire life. I believe you are the one who is going to destroy the Goa'uld."

Duncan just stared at Methos unsure of what to say. Methos was placing a lot of faith in him, but was it unfounded? "What about the prophecy, it says three in one?"

"I've been thinking about that. I think it means that the prophesied one will be three beings at once."

"See there!" thinking he could finally prove Methos wrong. "I'm an Immortal, nothing else!"

"Are you sure about that? Hear me out MacLeod. Look at the scar on your chest."

"What about it?"

"It tells a lot. You have been marked with the infinity symbol and an X. The infinity symbol signifies that you are an Immortal. The X stands for mortals, it is the finality of their lives. Ah, before you say anything, listen! Just that scar alone says something about you! You know as well as I do that Immortals don't scar, yet there you are standing before me with a scar on your chest, a scar is what happens to mortals. Think about it Duncan, on Vis Uban you passed out from the Quickening and you were dead for over an hour. You shouldn't have been affected by it the way you were, but you were, which is the way a mortal would have responded. It took us shocking your heart to bring you back to life, something used on mortals! You are both Immortal and Mortal."

"That's ridiculous Methos…" Duncan however wasn't so sure since Methos was making some good points. "What's it mean? What about the third one?"

"I don't know what the implications are of you being Immortal and Mortal, but you are marked with the symbols of both races. I think you will receive the third one when we get to Stonehenge. I think you will become one of the Ancients…"

"What!"

"Look at what we know so far. One, you knew about the Goa'uld and Stonehenge somehow, you think though that's it from the Quickening you got. I think it's because you, for some reason or another, already knew it. Maybe it took Connor's Quickening for you to access that part of your memory and knowledge. Two, when we were on Vis Uban, you, not Amanda or myself, could sense something more and knew which stones to touch and in what order. Three, you survived the download of Ancient knowledge into your brain. Jack's brain couldn't process it and hold it, you can. There are regions of your brain, that normally aren't actively running, are now at full capacity, yet you are fully in charge. I think you are already on your way to becoming an Ancient. MacLeod you're the One. You were destined for this!" Methos stared at MacLeod to gauge his response to what he had just revealed to him. He realized that he was laying a lot on the man's shoulders, but he knew though that if anyone were meant to do this, it was Duncan MacLeod.

As Duncan considered his words, Methos knew he would have to offer him more proof. "Look MacLeod, I've been doing a lot of research the past week. What do you know about Stonehenge?"

"It's old and no one knows who built it, but it's believed that it was used as an astronomical calendar of sorts," Duncan replied.

"What if it wasn't just a calendar?" Methos asked. "What if it was a map?"

"For the stars?"

He shook his head pensively, "Maybe. Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was built around 5000 years ago. What if it wasn't, what if the Ancient's built it?"

Duncan scoffed at the idea, "That's ridiculous Methos! They've dated the rocks for 5000 years ago, the Ancients left Earth millions of years ago. It wasn't them."

"Are you sure? Everyone outside of the SGC believes the pyramids were built within the last 5000 years ago. We know differently," he pointed out. "What if Rames and some of the others 'built' Stonehenge to be the Altar of Stones?"

"Come on Methos, that's a stretch!"

"Is it?" Methos asked him. "Stonehenge consists of 30 vertical rocks in the outer ring, with ten upright rocks in a horseshoe shape in the middle. And in the center of all that, there is one more, the Altar Stone."

"Yes so?"

"It's a Stargate," Methos revealed.

Duncan raised an unbelieving eyebrow, "How? A Stargate has 39 chevrons."

"Yes but as I was doing research, I remembered something from a long time ago… The two stones that make up the apex of the horseshoe, the two in the Great Trilithon, weren't originally connected by a stone on top like all the others… They were originally leaning against one another," Methos explained as he tented his hands mimicking a pyramid.

"I'm still not following you Methos," Duncan sighed.

"A Stargate has nine chevrons. To dial a planet you need six symbols plus one more for the point of origin. You also need a DHD to activate the Stargate. Stonehenge has all the markings of a Stargate. The Great Trilithon, which used to be in the shape of a pyramid, was the chevron for the point of origin for Earth. There are eight other chevrons or stones in the inner horseshoe of Stonehenge. And the Altar Stone in the center acts as the DHD… Now come on MacLeod, that can't be coincidence!"

"Fine," Duncan relented, "But what does that have to do with the prophecy and me?"

"Maybe it's a coincidence, but Stonehenge points to you."

His eyes widened, "What?"

Methos sighed as he went on to explain the other connections he had made, "If you stand on the inside of the Eastern Trilithon of the horseshoe and look outwards on the Winter Solstice, you will see the sunrise from between those two stones. If you look in the opposite direction and were to draw an imaginary line from the rising sun through the Trilithon, do you know what lies in that direction?"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Glenfinnan."

Duncan was speechless. 'It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?' he asked himself.

Methos walked up to his friend, "MacLeod, I truly believe that you are the one in the prophecy. Everything is pointing to that. You can't dismiss what I've said… And I think deep down, you know I'm right."

Duncan listened to everything Methos said, trying to find flaws in his theories, unfortunately he couldn't. Deep down though he felt that Methos was right. "So what next? Why'd you bring me out here?"

"You need to prepare Duncan. You need to be ready in every sense possible, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally."

Duncan looked at the sky considering what he had to do, and then looked at his friend who was placing his complete trust in him. Methos, a ten thousand year old survivor, trusted him to save the world, no make that the galaxy. "Why can't it be you?"

"Because it wasn't meant to be. Don't worry MacLeod, I'll be right at your side the whole time. I have never believed in someone or anything as much as I believe in you right now Duncan. Think about it Mac, you changed me! Before I met you the only thing I cared about was living to see tomorrow. I would follow you to the ends of the Universe and to Hell and back any day if you asked me to. You draw people to you. You're a born leader. You are the son of a Clan Chieftain. And now it is your time to lead your clan, except that now it is all humanity and Earth which you will lead."

Duncan looked down at the ground thinking about what Methos was implying and committing them to. "No pressure Methos, thanks," he told him with a smile. "So where do we start?"

"First, do you believe?"

"I'm beginning to."

"Good, just remember, you must keep your mind open to the world around you. Let's start with some sparring shall we?"

That night the two friends prepared for the next few days. They sparred, meditated and talked to help ready Duncan for the role that he was about to undertake. He was still nervous that so much would rely on him, but Methos told him that that was good, it made him mortal and compassionate, that he was concerned about everyone who would be involved. An hour before sunrise they left the temple and headed back to Cheyenne Mountain to embark on the next part of their journey.

* * *

On the flight to England

"So Mac, have a good night last night?" Jack asked. He had been anxious all night waiting for them to return, and when they had, they hadn't said a word to anyone. Duncan looked at Methos and shared a look with him, one that Jack picked up on. "Come on, someone please just tell me what last night was all about," he pleaded as he looked at both Methos and Duncan.

"Fate and trust."

"What? That's what you were all secretive about? You guys wanted to have a philosophical discussion?"

"Something like that Colonel," Methos told him with a smirk. Jack saw the smirk and got even more frustrated knowing that they wouldn't divulge any more information and so stormed off to the other end of the plane.

Once Jack had calmed down, Daniel went over to Adam and sat down beside him. "Is everything all right Adam?"

"Yeah. We just needed to get ready last night."

"You know something don't you? Tell me what it is? Is Mac holding back on us?"

Methos looked at the meditating Duncan and then everyone else in the cabin before answering, "I don't know anything for sure. I just merely believe."

"In what?"

Trying to be facetious he replied, "In us. I believe that we will succeed. Look Daniel, if I'm right I'll tell you all about it, I promise."

Daniel nodded his head and returned to his seat.

* * *

Stonehenge   
The next night

"So what do we do Daniel?"

"Well… I'm not sure. Any ideas Duncan?"

"We have to set up the altar like the one on Vis Uban, the same order and all."

Daniel took out all the objects from his bag and set them up on the altar as prescribed. Methos walked up to Mac and spoke to him quietly, "You have to do this alone you know?"

Duncan merely nodded his head as Methos started to walk away towards the outside perimeter of stones. "What now?" Daniel asked as he looked at Duncan.

"Hey Adam, where you going?" Jack called after him.

"I'm going to wait."

"Why not do that here?"

"Follow him Jack. You all have to leave the inner ring of the rocks, you have to wait outside."

"What?" Jack exclaimed. "No way. We stay with you!"

"Jack, you have to. I have to do this alone."

"Do what alone?" Jack demanded as the others, except for Adam, neared him.

"This, contact the Ancients."

Daniel then spoke up recalling Rames' tablet, "But the tablet said that to contact Rames a brotherhood from the army would have to come here."

"This goes beyond that Daniel. Look, please trust me. It has to be this way."

The mortal members of SG-1 were unsure what to do, Sam then spoke up. "What if something happens to you like on Vis Uban?"

"It will, but it won't be as bad," seeing that they wanted to know how he could be so sure he didn't try to explain, only reassure them, "I just know."

Amanda was listening to Duncan and detected how sure he was, she also considered what had happened the night before, Duncan and Methos slipping away to prepare, and now Methos was waiting outside the ring of stones. She started to get a hint at what exactly was going on but wasn't sure. She walked up to Duncan and spoke to him quietly, "Are you sure about this?"

Duncan looked into her eyes and conveyed both his certainty and uncertainty of what he was about to do. "Yes."

"Okay. Well, I believe in you. Come back to me, okay Duncan? I can't live without you," she told him as she kissed him before she turned and walked away towards Methos.

"What's going on here?" Jack yelled.

"Look! Jack, what's going to happen here is going to be very similar to Vis Uban. Lightening bolts will strike me; if you are within the stone perimeter you'll get struck and be killed! Now, please get out!" Duncan raised his voice as he spoke, but they could also sense that he was pleading with them, he didn't want them to get hurt. Reluctantly Jack led the rest of SG-1 to the outside of the stone ring to Methos and Amanda who were talking quietly.

"Are you sure about this Methos?" Amanda asked him.

"Not completely, no," he honestly told her as they watched the rest of SG-1 approach them.

Amanda turned and stared at Methos, "What! We can't leave him in there alone!"

"He'll be okay. He'll make it through," he quietly told her as he stared at Duncan.

"How do you know?"

"Because I believe in MacLeod. If it has to be anyone, it's going to be him."

As they were finishing their discussion the rest of SG-1 walked up to them, "What's he going to be?" Jack demanded. He didn't like not knowing what was going on, and he was even angrier that the Immortals on his team seemed to be withholding something from the rest of the team.

Adam looked at Duncan and nodded his head who nodded back. Duncan then looked down at the objects on the altar and then to the night sky above. He started to speak in an unknown language quietly, but as he spoke he became more confident and spoke louder and more forcefully.

Daniel was the first to recognize what was going on, "I think he's speaking in the same language that he told us the prophecy in, the secret language of the Ancients. Look!" he exclaimed as he pointed at Duncan who had started to develop a white aura around himself.

Adam quietly spoke with pride and awe, "He's the One!"

"What one?" Jack asked as he took his eyes off a glowing Duncan and looked at Methos.

"He is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Ancients."

All of SG-1 looked at Methos and then at Duncan just as the lightening bolts started to strike him from all directions, from the rocks, the ground, the altar, the objects on the altar, and the clouds above. As the lightening struck Duncan, the others were able to see that Duncan was still glowing, and then once again they saw several white glowing figures standing around Duncan.

TBC


	17. Testing

**Chapter 16 - _Testing _**

"He is the Chosen One."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He already bears the mark of two races."

"And the third?"

"He will receive our mark when he survives the test."

"How can you be so sure Oma Desala?"

"Because I have seen who he is. Let the test begin."

Duncan, who was physically immobilized in the barrage of lightening strikes, was still mentally aware of what was going on. Though his body convulsed with each strike he did not notice them, rather he focused his attention on the conversation among the Ancients who surrounded him. When he learned that he was to be tested he mentally spoke, "Let the test begin, I am prepared."

The Ancients all shared a look with each other, they had heard his thoughts and he their conversation. They then all started to hope as they began their test. They started by downloading all their knowledge into his mind to see if he would survive the influx of information he received.

As Duncan caught bits of the information that he was receiving he thought about it in context of the whole galactic order, the impact on humans specifically, and on a personal level to those involved. With everything that he analyzed he thought about it on many levels, projecting why events had occurred, and what future implications would be from the events that had already happened. The Ancients watched as they saw him think multi-dimensionally, the conclusions he drew from what he saw astounded them, he was able to anticipate certain events of their history that they had not been able to see. They also noticed that he was activating regions of his own brain to handle the information and process it.

They also imparted on him their theory on Immortals and their existence on Earth. As he analyzed it, he realized that they were wrong in their theory, this however he processed in a part of his brain that they were not able to access. As they analyzed him they realized that there was part of his brain that they could not access, that he had put up his own defenses.

"Why do you shield us from your thoughts?"

"Because there are things which you are not meant to know yet. Continue with the test."

Once the Ancients had finished downloading their information into his brain, they then probed his own mind and memories. They saw the battles he had fought, the people he had known and loved, they saw that he knew both true evil and good. They saw that he had possessed knowledge beyond his own experiences, they saw him come back from the dead many times, and they saw his compassion for humans. Once they were finished they were pleased, they too believed that he was the One from their prophecy.

Realizing that he had passed their test, Duncan decided to go on the offensive, "Why do you step away from your responsibility?"

Oma Desala, who had been leading the inquisition, responded on behalf of her race, "What do you mean?"

"The ascended Ancients live on a high moral plane and you have removed yourselves from interactions with those who have a corporeal form."

"To interfere with the course of civilizations is unwise and dangerous, we cannot anticipate their reactions."

"That is where you are wrong. To interact connects you with the universe and its inhabitants. It was your technology that created the Stargate system. Yet when you encountered a danger you could not defeat, you ascended to a higher energy level. You abandoned what you started and decided then that to interfere was dangerous. Well, you are the ones who first interfered by creating the Stargate system and allowed beings to interact from different worlds. That is the door you opened when you created the Stargate, and that is what you have forgotten when you ascended. The Ancients are an advanced race, but we must not isolate ourselves, it is necessary to use our judgment on whether or not to become involved."

"Most of our kind will not agree with you Duncan MacLeod."

"That is why you must speak with them."

"They must hear it from you. You are the one that the prophecy speaks of."

"Yes I am, but I must stay here. I cannot abandon my brothers."

"We are your brothers."

"You are indeed, but so are the Tau'ri, and the Immortals, along with all the other races in the galaxy. I have come to defend them against the Goa'uld; you are not in danger of the Goa'uld. You have protected yourselves already, my work is here. You must tell them and explain it to them Oma Desala. I know that in your heart you know I am right, you have not forgotten your corporal conscience. Help them evolve once again."

Oma looked hard at Duncan before agreeing to his request, "I will."

"Thank you. I must return. This test is over now." And with that Duncan willed for the lightening to stop attacking his body, which it immediately did, to the amazement of the Ancients who had gathered around him. They all gathered before him and bowed their heads before dematerializing and returning to their council. Once they left he collapsed onto his hands and knees.

* * *

SG-1 watched Duncan's body as lightening bolt after lightening bolt struck him. Jack was furious with Adam for not telling them about Duncan. Methos had deflected his questions explaining that he was never sure, that it was merely a hunch, and that if it was meant to be Duncan then it would have happened anyway. When the final lightening bolt struck Duncan they saw him collapse, only fifteen seconds had elapsed from the first strike. 

Methos led the race to Duncan's side once the lightening had stopped. /Methos/

"I'm coming MacLeod!" he yelled back as he neared Duncan with the others a step behind.

/Tell them everything. I need to rest now for a while, I'll be fine though./

"I will!" he responded as he kneeled next to Duncan's body and rolled him over.

"Adam, what are you talking about?" Methos looked at Jack slightly confused. "What will you do?"

"Mac wants me to tell you everything, didn't you hear him?"

The rest of SG-1 looked at each other while Sam looked over Duncan's body.

"Adam we didn't hear anything…" Daniel told him.

Sam checked his pulse, "He's dead!"

Methos unsure what was going on, "What? It's okay, he said he had to rest and that he'll be fine. You guys didn't hear him?" They all shook their heads no.

"What's going on Adam?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know exactly, but I have to tell you what I believed and what I now know to be true." Methos then went on to explain why he believed Duncan to be the one in the prophecy, mentioning the events in Duncan's past and the trials he had been through. "I've lived for over ten thousand years, and he is the perfect Immortal. If any Immortal were to win the Game, I would want it to be him. I offered him my head once, he wouldn't take it. I have put my faith in him."

"You believed in me before I ever did brother," Duncan said startling all of them.

"Mac you made it!" Amanda yelled as she hugged him.

"So I was right?" Methos asked him.

Duncan looked at Methos and then removed his shirt to show them his chest. They saw that the scar had been added to with a circle encompassing the other two marks. "You were. I am three in one."

The rest of SG-1 was speechless as they looked at Duncan. They now had the key to defeating the Goa'uld right at their side. Daniel was the first to speak, "What happened?"

"They tested me. As they analyzed me, I analyzed them and their history. I have all their knowledge within me now."

"You know everything they know then? Their technology and where the Lost City is too?" Jack asked.

"I know their history, not what they observed of the physical world. And yes I know their technology and where the Lost City is," seeing the excitement on Jack and Sam's face grow he continued, "Don't get excited though. I won't share all of it with you."

"Why not?" Jack asked.

"Do you remember what I told you a week ago in Sam's lab? Well the same still applies; there are some pieces of technology that are too dangerous for humans right now because of your youth and mentality. Plato once wrote that no 'implement is the slightest good to anyone unless he's acquired the knowledge of how to use it and has devoted sufficient attention to it.' Don't worry though, I'm here to help you grow. The Asgard were right, humans have a lot of potential and I'm here to help you achieve it, but at a pace that you can handle. Trust me on this one Jack. If we really do direly need Ancient technology then I will do what is necessary to save us, but I won't let us stockpile and exploit."

"So you're an Ancient?" Daniel asked knowing that what MacLeod was saying was right. "I thought you couldn't interfere with us?"

"That is where the Ancients were wrong. It is necessary to interact with other races, to help them grow. But only at a rate they can handle, we need to show you to think for yourselves and not just give you technology. The Ancients were afraid of making the wrong decisions concerning helping civilizations along, so they made a blanket decision to not help anyone."

"Why were they afraid?"

"Because they created the Stargate for their use, they didn't anticipate the effect it would have on other civilizations, they didn't think about the evil that would be spread. Once they saw what was happening in the universe they formed the great alliance and promoted the idea that the others also maintain a distance with those less advanced. They were incorrect in that judgment, it only helped the evil of the Goa'uld spread. They could not think on different levels, that is where I come in."

"What do you mean?"

"I have the knowledge of the Ancients. I am Immortal and cannot die. I am also Mortal and know what to live one life is like. I have lived with true evil within me. I know what is right and just. I am a student of history as well as an expert on history. I can think multi-dimensionally and project. I'm here to share that with the galaxy."

* * *

SGC  
Two weeks later 

"So, discover any new powers oh Ancient one?" Jack teasingly asked.

Duncan looked up from the papers he was working on, "No Jack, nothing else… However I am trying to find a way to make you shut up!"

Jack brought his hands up to his heart, "I'm hurt! Besides, you need me around to keep you grounded so you don't forget your mortal side!"

Duncan slowly stood up as he developed a plan in his mind, "What would I do without you Jack?"

Jack shrugged, "Probably cave under the pressure knowing that the fate of the universe depends on you! But don't worry, I got your back!"

"Geez, Jack, thanks! Since so much is riding on my success, and you have my back, maybe you should help me prepare," Duncan suggested with an evil look in his eye.

Jack raised his eyebrow as Duncan placed his arm around his shoulders, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, if I'm going to be fighting Anubis, I'm going to need some training. So how about we train together?"

Jack's eyes went wide as he remembered his last training session with Duncan, he had spent most of it on his back. He tried to turn and run, but Duncan's grip was steadfast, "Uh, actually I've got something else I gotta do!"

"But Jack, I need your help! You're watching my back right?" Duncan asked him as he led him to the base gym.

Jack grumbled as they continued on, "Me and my big mouth! I shouldn't have said anything!"

/Maybe I have found a way to shut you up/

Jack turned and glared at Duncan, "Damnit! Don't do that! It freaks me out!"

"Why?"

"Come on, you know why! I can hear you in my head! … Are you sure you can't hear my thoughts?"

Duncan turned serious, "Yes. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to. It's too much an invasion of privacy. Besides, I think I'd be worried if I knew what thoughts you had running through your mind!"

Jack mockingly laughed, "Ha ha!"

"Besides Jack, this little ability of mine may save your life one day if we learn to accept it and use it wisely in battle."

Jack grudgingly agreed as they entered the gym. "Yeah, yeah… So what do you have in mind for our workout today?"

"Well, I've seen you eyeing my katana a few times, so I thought I'd teach you how to handle one. We'll start off with a bokken though, it's a wooden sword," Duncan explained.

Jack's eyes went wide, "Excellent!"

TBC

A/N: The words in between / and / are meant to be telepathic.


	18. Sought Out

**Chapter 17 - _Sought Out_**

SGC Conference Room  
One month later

"The Tok'ra have contacted us and want our help."

"What do they want this time sir?" Jack asked in a flippant attitude.

"They apparently have a Tok'ra spy in the service of a minor System Lord named Jarus. They haven't heard from him in some time and they want our help to find out what happened to him."

"Why can't they send their own team to get the guy out, sir?"

"Because apparently they have no one else to spare. After the destruction of their bases by Anubis, they have been having a hard time keeping up with all their operatives. Jacob will be joining you on the rescue mission. He's due here in over an hour."

"Excellent sir, we look forward to it!"

"Colonel, this is the first time that you are all going to be going out into Goa'uld territory, I want you to take extra precautions. I don't want anything to happen to Duncan."

"General, we can take care of ourselves," Adam reminded him.

"Nevertheless, you've never been face to face with the Goa'uld with the rest of SG-1, I want you to be careful."

"We will General Hammond," Duncan told him answering for all the Immortals.

Sam addressed her next question to both General Hammond and the Immortals, "Do we have permission to tell my dad about your Immortality or the prophecy."

"I'd prefer if we didn't just quite yet, I'd like to get a feel for the other races out there before letting them in on our secret. General Hammond is this okay with you?" Duncan asked.

"Agreed, that'll be the ace up our sleeve."

SGC Control Room

"I see that you've kept an expanded SG-1," Jacob commented to General Hammond and Sam.

"Yes, they've provided enormous benefits and experience to the team," General Hammond told him. He knew that Jacob suspected something of the new members, but he wasn't quite at liberty to say anything. "So where are we sending you?"

Writing out the coordinates, Jacob handed them to the controller explaining the situation, "Here. I have a ship waiting on this planet; it's the closest planet to Jarus' ship. I'll have the Tok'ra High Council keep you updated with our status," Jacob then lowered his head as Selmak came forward, "The Tok'ra will be indebted to you for your assistance on this mission."

"It is the nature of our alliance to help one another," General Hammond told him.

"Yes it is. We must go now," Selmak remarked as he lowered his head and Jacob returned. "Thanks George."

"Good luck Jacob, Major," as they headed down to the Gate room, he had the sergeant activate the Stargate.

As Jacob and Sam entered the Gate room he noticed that the new members of the team all carried swords, "Why are they carrying swords Sam?" he whispered to her.

Sam became nervous as she tried to come up with an answer for her father that would sound plausible. Luckily Duncan had heard the question and decided to bail Sam out/Tell him that it's a ninja samurai thing./

Sam looked at Duncan and smiled, which her father noticed, "It's a samurai thing Dad. Don't worry, they've got other weapons on them."

"Wormhole activated!" the loudspeaker bellowed.

SG-1 and Jacob walked up the ramp, "Samurai?" he wondered.

"Yeah, I know, weird isn't it?" Jack told him as he waited for Jacob to step through the Stargate and followed behind him.

On the other side of the wormhole they all headed towards Jacob's hidden cargo ship. Once they were all on board Jacob injected them with a radioactive isotope to shield their life signs from the Goa'uld.

With their life signs masked from the Goa'uld detection systems they floated their ship into Jarus' radar screen which then intercepted the unknown ship to see what was aboard. Once the Goa'uld had finished their inspection of the ship, SG-1 and Jacob then snuck their way onto the Goa'uld mother ship.

"Where to now Jacob?" Jack asked.

"The holding cells and sarcophagus are two floors up generally. I suggest we start there."

"Sounds good. Carter, Daniel, and Amanda you go with Jacob. The rest of you- What is it MacLeod?" he asked when he saw the Immortal shake his head.

"No. First we need to disable the ring transporter system and their communications systems. Amanda can you take care of that?"

"Yeah, not a problem. I may need Teal'c's help."

"Why are we going after the rings?"

"Because we need to prevent them from getting a hold of anyone else. We can't let get out what's going to happen here. I need the rest of you to cause as much mayhem and distractions as you can."

Jack nodded his head at Teal'c giving him permission to accompany Amanda. Jacob noticed the new dynamics of the group, taking special note of how Jack was listening to Duncan almost to the point of taking orders from him. "What is going to happen here and what are you going to do?"

"Offer them a host that they can't refuse."

"What! Are you insane! I'm not going to lose you to the Goa'uld!"

Duncan then spoke with the rest of SG-1 mentally, excluding Jacob/Jack, I know what I'm doing. I didn't know before, but I do now. The Goa'uld can't take Immortals as hosts, our superior immune system destroys them, not vice versa./

"Yeah well what if something goes wrong?" Jack asked out loud confusing Jacob who only heard the one side of the discussion.

/Then Methos will have to kill me. Don't worry though Methos, I know what I'm doing./

Jack looked at Duncan intently and the rest of his team before deciding to go along with Duncan's plan. "Okay. The rest of us break up into two teams, Carter go with your dad and try to locate the Tok'ra spy. Don't to anything, just find him and then get to work creating as much havoc for the Goa'uld as possible. The rest of us will go straight to the wreaking havoc part. Adam, I want you to keep an eye on MacLeod. If anything happens, I want you to report it to me. All right, let's move out."

Once they were separated from the rest of the group Jacob pulled Sam aside in an alcove, "Sam, what the hell just happened there?"

Trying to feign ignorance she spoke, "What do you mean?" She tried to keep her mind on the task at hand as she checked the corridor for any Jaffa.

"Come on Sam, Duncan's a civilian! What's Jack doing listening to him? And another thing, what was Jack talking about when he asked if something went wrong?"

"Dad, please, now isn't the time," she pleaded with him, anxious to continue on her mission and avoid the impromptu interrogation being administered by her father.

"Isn't the time? I'm out here working with that man, I need to know what's going on!"

"I know Dad, but I can't tell you. You can trust him though. Please don't make me betray him," she pleaded with her father.

Finally seeing that he would not be able to get any further information he quietly acquiesced and led her out of the alcove.

"If your spy was discovered, where would be the most likely place we'd find him?"

Jacob sighed as he led her out of the alcove and down the corridor, "This way."

* * *

"MacLeod, are you sure about this?"

"Yes. My guess is that once they see me heal and come back to life, one of the Goa'uld will try to meld with me, I'd give them twenty minutes before that happens. Once it does, gather the rest of SG-1 close by. I'll probably stay down for a while after the Goa'uld enters me, no more than five minutes though. Be prepared to fight once I re-awaken."

"Okay, be careful MacLeod."

"I always am! I'll see you in a few!" he told him with a smile as he left Methos to find some Jaffa and another Goa'uld to attack and lose against.

Methos whispered under his breath, "Godspeed MacLeod." He waited before Duncan turned the corner before he began to slowly follow.

TBC

That's all for now... Maybe some more chapters by weeks end.


	19. Impressive

Author's Note: Sorry. But at least I have something to tide you over for a while. Hopefully this summer will be not as busy and allow me to actually keep writing.

* * *

**  
Chapter 19 -_ Impressive_**

Mac found his prey in the transport ring room, three Jaffa and a Goa'uld were trying to get the system to operate but were failing due to the work Amanda and Teal'c had done.

Taking a deep breath, Mac ran out from behind a corner and attacked the nearest Jaffa with his katana. He was able to kill two of the Jaffa before another aimed his staff weapon at Duncan and fired.

The minor Goa'uld, Hashu, stood over Duncan's body and then reached down to grab his sword, "Foolish human." He then turned to one of his remaining Jaffa to have them find out how the man had gotten on board when he noticed the sparks on Duncan's body. He took a closer inspection of Duncan's body as he watched the burn heal. "Amazing! Bring the body!" he ordered his Jaffa as he led them to Jarus' temple quarters.

"Jarus, I bring you an appealing host with special powers," he announced as he had one of the Jaffa blast Duncan in the chest from close range. He then bent down to remove his shirt so that his leader could see.

"What am I supposed to do with a damaged body?"

"Watch," he told him as they both saw the electrical currents pass over the wound leaving no trace of a staff blast.

"You are right, this is a most appealing body. What else is it capable of? Can it recover from death?"

"Dare we risk such an extreme test?"

"If he dies we can use the sarcophagus on him, the body will still have many benefits."

Hashu then took a zat and fired twice on Duncan's body. He checked Duncan's pulse and pronounced him dead before standing back, "How long shall we wait?"

"A few minutes only, if he does not revive before then take him to the sarcophagus."

After waiting ten minutes they were about to take Duncan's body when they heard the gasp for air come from Duncan's mouth.

"Incredible, a host that cannot die. No longer will the System Lords dismiss me when they see me heal before their eyes, they will have no choice but to accept me into their ranks as a Superior System Lord. Prepare him for the ceremony, I will take this new body as my host."

As they prepared the temple room for the ceremony, Methos watched on as he contacted the rest of SG-1 to tell them their location. Throughout the preparations several reports came in about the mayhem that the rest of SG-1 was creating through out the ship.

The rest of SG-1 moved to their positions around the temple room as they were about to begin the transfer of the Goa'uld. As soon as the Goa'uld entered Duncan's body through the base of the neck, Duncan passed out, confusing Hashu and the Jaffa who were watching for they had never seen such a result from a Goa'uld transfer.

Four minutes had passed when Duncan came out of his unconscious state. He decided to keep his eyes closed as he began to communicate with SG-1. Okay, it's done. I'm all right and in control, the Goa'uld is dead. In about thirty seconds I'm going to 'wake up.' I'm going to comment on how young and strong my new host body is, then I'm going to walk towards the far entrance of the temple. When I turn around, start the assault. I hope you're all nearby, because I don't know if I can fool them for very long.

Thirty seconds later Duncan woke up and raised his head, he then lowered his head to simulate the power of the Goa'uld taking over. "Jarus, is everything well?" Hashu asked.

Duncan stood up and began to walk towards the hall entrance. Speaking in a deep voice he replied, "Yes. This body suits me well. It is very young and strong."

"What happened? Why did it take you so long to come forward?"

"The host was very strong and resisted," he said as he reached the end of the hall and started to turn around. Speaking in his normal voice he continued, "So strong in fact, that I killed Jarus."

As soon as they saw Duncan reveal himself, the rest of SG-1 opened fire on the enemy. An intense firefight ensued over the next few minutes. At one point reinforcements came and snuck up behind Sam and Jacob, seriously injuring both with staff blasts.

Teal'c gave Jack cover fire as he headed over to check up on them. What he saw terrified him.

Jacob had taken an indirect hit, but Selmak was already working hard to heal Jacob. Sam, on the other hand, had taken a direct hit and was unconscious and barely alive.

"Damn it Carter, you're not dying on me now!" he yelled at her.

Duncan heard Jack's yelling and swearing and headed in their direction, "What happened?" he yelled as he neared the trio.

"Carter's been hit. She's…" checking her pulse he stopped, "she's dead…" he quietly proclaimed in disbelief.

"Sam…" Jacob quietly called out. "No Jack, you can't let her die! Do something!"

"I don't know what!"

"Jack you have to try, don't let her die!" Jacob yelled as the firefight continued around them.

Duncan half listened to the exchange as he himself searched through all his knowledge. He went to Sam's side and placed his hands a few inches above her wounds.

Jack questioned him about what he was doing, but Duncan remained silent as he concentrated.

Suddenly electrical currents formed in his hands and then were transmitted to the wound on Sam's body. Once the wound had been healed he placed one hand over her heart and one over her head. The space below his hands glowed as she took a breath of air into her lungs. Duncan fell away from her side as Jack and Jacob closed in on her, both shocked at what they had just seen.

"Duncan what the hell just happened? How did you do that?" Jacob asked.

"I just-" he was interrupted though as he saw a small band of Jaffa close in on them. He instinctively held up his bare hand in a defensive gesture. But from his raised hand lightening bolts erupted and attacked the Jaffa sending them flying back across the room.

Seeing the power he had, he stood up and fearlessly faced the attacking Goa'uld and Jaffa, stopping their attacks by raising his hands and sending lightening bolts at them. Not even Hashu, who hid behind a personal shield, was safe from the blast. Duncan raised one of his hands at the ceiling and sent a lightening bolt through the ship disrupting and disabling all electrical systems.

Once there was a pause in the attack by the Jaffa, SG-1 sealed the temple room to give themselves time to re-group.

"Where the hell did that come from Mac? Why didn't you tell us about your little lightening thing?"

"Jack what is he?" Jacob asked Jack as he tended to his daughter who was actually doing better than his own recovering body. Jack ignored him though.

"Because I didn't know before. Look, we don't have time to discuss this right now. We need to get out of here."

"He is right O'Neill. We must finish the mission. The Goa'uld Hashu is healing his host now, what shall we do with him?"

"I don't know… Interrogate him? Find out about Jacob's guy?" Jack suggested for the rest of his team who moved about in darkness illuminated only by the flashlights attached to their machine guns.

"Where is Rigel?"

Trying to retain some of his pride he answered, "He is dead. We killed him when we learned he was Tok'ra."

"He's lying. Once he learned that they were onto him, he wiped his memory clean and killed himself. The Goa'uld learned nothing from him, that is why they have not made any moves."

"How do you know that?" Jacob asked him.

"Because I acquired all of Jarus' memories and we had a little chat before I destroyed him."

"You will die Tau'ri!" Hashu exclaimed as he jumped up and tried to attack Duncan. Duncan however was quick to respond and raised his hand at the oncoming Goa'uld and electrocuted him just as Jack shot him with a zat.

Once the body reached the ground, Teal'c checked it and found no signs of life. "He is dead."

"What do we do now Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Well, how about we take this ship for ourselves? I don't think there are any other Goa'uld around to argue with us. I want this ship secured in ten minutes," he told his team as they started to prepare to fight their way out. "Sam, Jacob you guys okay to roll?"

"Yes sir. I don't exactly know what happened to me, but I'm fine."

"Yeah Jack. I don't know if we'll be able to get the ship back online after that power surge."

"I'm sure you can figure it out. All right, everyone ready to go?" getting nods from everyone on his team he then gave the order to move out as they continued their battle to take control of the ship.

TBC


	20. Who Are You?

**Chapter 20 - _Who are you?_**

"Jack, who or what is Duncan?"

"Jacob, you're going to have to ask him yourself. We promised them that we wouldn't reveal anything, it's their choice whether or not to let you know."

"What do you mean 'their choice'?" Jacob saw Jack cringe knowing that he had accidentally let something slip. "Are Adam and Amanda involved as well?"

"Jacob, I'm sorry, I can't. Just talk to Duncan."

"Where is he?"

"Resting in the temple room I think." Jacob headed off in search of Duncan.

In the temple room, Daniel, Teal'c and Methos were waiting for Duncan to come out of his meditation. Once they saw him come out of it, Methos questioned him, "Everything all right MacLeod?"

"Yeah, I was just a little tired after the show earlier," he offered with a quiet smile and laugh. "I had to clear my mind of the Goa'uld…"

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"When the Goa'uld Jarus entered me and I fought for control, I acquired its genetic memory. There's a lot of evil in those snakes."

"How can you retain its genetic memory? Shifu, the Harcesis child, buried the knowledge he had deep within his mind. The only way he could defeat the evil was to not fight it by denying its existence."

"Because the evil is already within me, it is inside all of us. I know what evil is and I accept its presence within me. It is my faith in who I am that keeps me in control while still retaining the memories. I can now safely analyze them for what they are, I've distanced myself from them."

"That's why it was important for you to know both evil and good, so you could destroy the Goa'uld," Methos added contemplating the situation.

"I don't think me being the One singles me out in the way that you think. Should any Goa'uld try to take an Immortal as a host, the Immortal will always win. My newfound abilities only allowed me to interact with the Goa'uld and absorb its memories before I destroyed it. Methos, if a Goa'uld would try to take you as a host you would win, but you would not have the memories. Granted the Dark Quickening and my healing afterwards along with my battle against Ahriman were necessary to help me not be consumed by the knowledge and evil I absorbed from the Goa'uld."

"The Goa'uld are truly defenseless against the Immortal race," Teal'c added in a hopeful voice that one day soon their battle against the Goa'uld would be over.

Shortly thereafter Jacob walked in pleased to find Duncan and Adam there. He walked straight up to Duncan and confronted him, "Duncan I'm grateful to you for what you did for Sam, but who the hell are you?"

Duncan looked at his teammates and resigned himself to the fact that he would have to tell Jacob about their Immortal status. "I am Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. I was born in 1592 on the shores of Glenfinnan, Scotland, and I cannot die… I am Immortal."

Jacob just stared at him not knowing whether to be angry with Duncan for coming up with an absurd story or wait for the punchline. After waiting for an explanation he skeptically spoke, "An Immortal? And you're over four hundred years old?"

"That is correct, though amongst those of my kind, I am considered but a child."

"Your kind? The Immortals that is?"

"Yes."

"Come on Duncan, just tell me who you are!"

"Would you like proof?" When he saw Jacob nod his head not really believing that anything was going to happen, Duncan pulled out a knife and cut himself on his arm.

"Are you crazy?" he asked as he rushed to his arm to check the wound and bandage it.

As Jacob was about to reach for his arm, Duncan grabbed it with his good hand and held it. "No, just watch." Jacob stared at Duncan and saw in his eyes that he was not crazy; he then looked at the arm wound and saw it heal itself as the small electrical currents flashed over the wound.

"My god!" Jacob then lowered his head as Selmak came forward. "The Tok'ra have never seen anything like this. What are you?"

"As I said, I am an Immortal. So are Adam and Amanda, along with several hundred more on Earth. We are all born mortal until we suffer our first death at which point we stop aging and have the ability to heal and not stay dead. I could fire six rounds into Adam's chest right now and he'd die, but only temporarily. In fifteen minutes he would reawaken and show no signs at all of being shot"  
Methos leaned over to Daniel, "I really hope that Jacob doesn't need to see that as proof… It's very difficult to arrive back home and not be questioned when your shirt is riddled with bullet holes!"

"You are able to heal yourself without the use of a sarcophagus, a healing device or a symbiote?"

"Yes."

"And you join us in the fight against the Goa'uld?"

"We do."

"Why?"

MacLeod looked at Methos and spoke to him, I don't want them to know about the prophecy quite yet, tell him your story.

Methos nodded his head at Mac and explained their alliance. "My real name is Methos, I am over ten thousand years old and I was on Earth when Ra arrived. I was part of the rebellion that forced him back through the Stargate. I know what the Goa'uld can do, there is nothing more important then defeating the Goa'uld and removing them from this galaxy."

"How did your army get rid of Ra?"

"The army I fought in was led by an ambassador of the Ancients, he gathered several hundred Immortals to rid the Earth of the Goa'uld. They had no chance against an army that could not stay dead. We fought them back using only our battle axes."

"It is hard to believe that the Goa'uld were driven away merely by battle axes."

"We don't want to just drive the Goa'uld away, we plan on destroying them this time."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Selmak asked.

"We will fight against the Goa'uld, but our army will be much larger, and we will be led by a great warrior."

"Where do you gather your army and who will lead them? The Tok'ra may wish to join you in this fight."

"We may well require your assistance, but not yet. We'll tell you more when the time is right."

"As part of our allegiance with the Tau'ri, I insist you let us know your plans in advance. We cannot leave the battle against the Goa'uld to be led by the Tau'ri."

"Don't worry, it won't be," Methos added facetiously.

"Then by whom?"

"By one of the Ancients," Methos added.

"They will not lead an army, they refuse to interfere with the physical world."

"This one doesn't. Selmak, we promise to notify the Tok'ra High Council when the time is right. You must trust us with this," Duncan told him, hoping that it would be the end of the conversation.

Realizing that he would gain no further information from them regarding the army or the leader, he decided to go along, "Very well, the Tok'ra High Council will await to hear from you. Do all Immortals possess powers like you?" Selmak asked indicating Duncan.

"No, not all of them. I just happen to practice a little magic and I studied with a Shaman before."

Selmak stared at Duncan and thought he was not being fully honest, "I believe you are withholding information, however we are glad that you are joining our fight against the Goa'uld. I propose that the groundwork of an alliance between the Tok'ra and the Immortals be laid today."

"Selmak, we are working with the SGC. What alliance you have made with them, extends to us."

"Even then, we would very much like to speak with you at great length."

"We'll see," Duncan told him.

TBC


	21. Deep

**Chapter 21 - _Deep_**

Daniel looked up when he sensed someone enter the room he was in. "Hey Duncan."

"Daniel." Duncan studied his friend and saw that he was bothered by something. "Everything alright?"

Daniel smiled halfheartedly, "Yeah I was just remembering some things."

Duncan leaned against the wall across from Daniel, "You want to talk about it?"

"Do you believe in fate?"

Duncan eased himself to the ground, "You mean like is everything we do already pre-determined?"

"Yeah," he told him. Daniel had a lot of things he wanted to resolve, things that Duncan had awakened within his mind and memories.

"Yes and no…" he began as he tried to put into words what he felt and knew.

"We are each the sum of our own experiences. What makes us different from one another is how we decide to live with that experience, what we take from it. In that way, I do believe in fate of the decisions we make. I think if we look back on our lives, the choice we will make is clear. Even if we debate the decision we must make, the final choice we make will be rooted in what we have done in our lives.

"But do I believe in the type of fate where all history has worked together to bring us all together to this one point in time?"

Daniel nodded his head, really wanting to know his answer.

"I'm not sure… I don't think so."

"What about the prophecy you fulfilled? It seems like you were fated to be 'The One.'"

Duncan took a deep breath. "A prophecy is no more than a hope passed from generation to generation. And me? … Well, I just happen to be someone who's friends with a very old Immortal."

Daniel became animated to make a point, "But it can't all be coincidence! The fact that Adam and I met ten years ago and became friends. The fact that I ascended and then de-ascended on Vis Uban. Adam being your friend and turning to you for help. Us working together. If none of that or a thousand other things hadn't taken place we wouldn't be here! Everything in your life has prepared you to undertake what you are! That has to be Fate!" he finished.

"No, I think that is just how things happened to play out in this reality. Remember there are an infinite possible realities out there, you've seen two of them. What happens in one reality is that, it just happens. Another reality is present that covers different circumstances."

"So you're saying we're the only reality that has the Prophecy fulfilled?"

Duncan shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe. Maybe in another reality it is someone else. Maybe in another reality there is no Prophecy… We can't focus on what might have been, we must look at what we have in our lives and decide how we will live our lives. That isn't fate, that's you deciding how to live. The only reality is the one we live in."

Daniel looked down and thought about his words. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts and memories.

Finally Duncan spoke, "What do you remember?"

A startled Daniel looked up, "What do you mean?"

"You're trying to reconcile something I've said with what you learned from Oma Desala. What did you remember?"

"How did you..?"

Duncan smiled, "I can read people… I'm actually surprised it's taken us this long to talk."

"You knew we would have this conversation? How?" Daniel was incredulous.

"I guessed we would have a conversation along these lines… Daniel, you and I shared an experience in ascending. Different circumstances and all, but we were both enlightened in separate ways… What do you remember?" he softly asked him.

Daniel saw his point of view on the matter and realized that they did indeed share something special. He had someone in front of him now who could hopefully explain it all to him.

"Oma said that we only have control over one thing in life – whether we choose to be good or evil… That didn't happen for you did it? With the… the Dark Quickening was it?"

Duncan's face softened as he spoke distantly, "No, not really… For some of us it is a battle that must be fought in our hearts… The power of each fighting over control of your body and soul…"

"What happened?"

"Are you familiar with Native American mythology?"

"A little yes…"

"Do you know of the Hayoka?"

Daniel searched his knowledge, "It's a shaman, right?"

Duncan nodded his head, "The Hayoka was the shaman who absorbed the evil in others. He freed them from the burden of revenge and hatred that they carried in their hearts. In the late 1800's he saved me from continuing on the path of hatred and destruction I was on… I didn't see him for another 120 years…"

"And all that time he kept taking in the evil of people he encountered? Mortal and Immortal alike?" Duncan nodded his head slowly. "What did he do with the evil that he took in?"

Duncan looked up sadly and shook his head.

"It became too much…" Daniel concluded.

"Yes… In trying to save the world by ridding it of evil, he lost himself… The evil consumed him and he was no longer the man he used to be…"

Daniel was amazed at what he was hearing. The man's very being had been changed… The Quickenings he had taken had consumed him… They had told him that the point of the Game was to be the last Immortal standing. Did that mean that the last Immortal would end up being evil and destroy their world? Would all their efforts at the SGC where they tried to save the planet from aliens be fruitless if it was destroyed by an Immortal?

Duncan watched Daniel and the questions that raced across his mind. He saw the amazement and fear flicker across his face.

When the questions and concerns died down in his mind, he noticed Duncan's intense eyes watching him.

"You don't have to worry about that," he reassured the young man.

Daniel watched him. And despite what his mind was telling him, he knew Duncan would protect them. He did believe in Duncan and his abilities.

"Jim never lived with the evil and came to accept its presence in the world and then in himself. He just kept absorbing it and hiding it away… That's why it consumed it. He never allowed himself to confront it…"

"So what happened?"

"I thought I could help him… I couldn't. And so I had to take his head… The evil he had absorbed was now in me… I had no control over what I did… I almost killed Richie who was like a son to me… I don't know why, but I left Seacouver for Paris… I continued with my actions… Showing no respect for others, property, my friends, or myself."

Daniel swallowed, "How did you…?"

"A friend…" Duncan closed his eyes as he thought of his murder of Sean Burns. "He tried to help me and I betrayed him… I took his head… That's what saved me," he revealed as he looked up at Daniel. "Sean Burns was a good man, he had a good soul… He never tried to hurt others, he was a doctor and he just wanted to help others… But he couldn't help me, not the way he had hoped to… It was only in his death and Quickening that something in me reawakened. A part of me that knew what I was doing was wrong. A part of me that didn't want to hurt others like I had…"

Duncan paused and gathered his thoughts before he continued. "Methos never stopped believing in me," he realized. Stowing that thought in his mind, he continued to explain the events that took place eight years earlier. "Methos led me to some hidden springs which had magical powers and-"

"Magical powers?" Daniel asked skeptically.

Duncan smirked, "I would have said the same thing if not for what happened there… I felt my soul separating into the two halves – good and evil. They fought for my soul… The good in me eventually won," he stated.

"How did you move on knowing what you had done?" Daniel asked him.

"You don't… At least not completely… You can't… It became a part of who I am… Daniel do not recall what you have done in your previous life and regret it… You have already unburdened yourself from that life," Duncan told him.

"It's just that I went through so much to ascend and then I did something to come back here… I don't understand why…"

"What is there to understand that you don't already know? Your ascension was just another part of your journey… It didn't stop when you ascended. Daniel, who you are is so ingrained in you that you couldn't stop from interfering and saving Abydos. Embrace that Daniel! No one can judge you… Only yourself."

Daniel's eyes widened, "That's what Oma Desala told me."

Duncan dipped his head in acknowledgement. "That is a part of taking control of your life." Duncan stood up, "You cannot control everything Daniel, but you can control what type of man you are."

As Duncan was about to leave, Daniel called out one last question, "Did you ever want to leave it all behind?"

"Life?"

Daniel nodded his head.

"At times."

"What stopped you?"

A small smile graced his mouth, "My friends." Duncan nodded at Daniel and then left Daniel with his thoughts.

* * *

Later that night   
SGC

"Hey Daniel, what's up?" Jack asked as he walked into his office.

Daniel looked up from his notes. "Hey Jack," he replied without much emotion.

"You okay Daniel?"

He half nodded his head in response, "Just been thinking…"

Jack was about to make a sarcastic response when he really took notice that Daniel was disturbed by what was on his mind.

"You want to talk about it?"

Daniel looked up at Jack and studied him. He stared at him debating whether or not to broach what was on his mind. He finally did, "You let me go."

Jack was confused, "Huh?"

"I never thanked you for that…"

"For what?"

"For letting me go," he repeated.

Jack stared at him as he tried to figure out what Daniel was talking about. After studying Daniel's face for several minutes he realized what he was talking about. "Daniel-"

"You were a real friend Jack, I know it must have been a hard decision to make."

"You have no idea," he quietly told him.

"You understood why I had to do it though, right?"

"Not really… But…"

"I felt I had to move on and continue my work… As I lay there in the infirmary you guys showed me that I had made a difference. I had to keep on doing that…"

Jack studied his friend, "I get it Daniel… Just don't ever do that to me again," he ordered with a smile.

Daniel grinned back, "Okay."

TBC


	22. Relax!

**Chapter 22 - _Relax!_**

Three Days Later   
SGC

"Hey Mac," Amanda said as she entered Duncan's room uninvited, then again she knew he would know she was approaching. Duncan and Methos looked up from their chess match when she walked in, "Oh, hi Methos."

"Amanda, didn't you ever learn to knock?" Methos asked her as he made his next move.

"Not really, I learned to be quiet when I broke into rooms!" she replied with a smile.

"What are we supposed to do with you? I wonder if General Hammond knows all your tricks of breaking and entering?"

"Who cares? Besides there's nothing here worth stealing! So I guess you'll just have to put up with me Duncan!" she told him as she sat next to him on the bed.

Duncan looked at her with a sideways glance as he smiled and made his next move, "Check."

Methos stared at the board in silence for a few minutes pondering his next move. "MacLeod, ever since Stonehenge you've been getting better and better at this game, but not quite good enough. I have you in six moves," he told him triumphantly as he made his next move.

"Yes well, I have you in four moves," he told him as he quickly made his next move.

"What?" a shocked Methos asked as the smile on his face disappeared and he studied the board. "What are you talking about? You don't have…" his face fell though as he saw the board and saw that his friend was right. "How did you do that?"

"You're right, I have gotten better since Stonehenge, I think more dimensionally and make better predictions about how things will play out. Actually, I've been controlling your moves since the first five moves, I wanted you to think that you were going to win, I knew you wouldn't be able to see that last move that would bring me in for the kill in a few short moves," he explained to him with a wide grin on his face.

Methos conceded defeat and laid down his king, "You know, I used to relish the fact that I could always beat you in chess. I was the survivor and had all the brains and experience, you were the young highland brute! Now I don't have that anymore!" he told him as he laughed.

Speaking in a rough Scottish accent he replied, "That I was, but not anymore." He paused though as he considered what rested on his shoulders and his face fell as he considered what he would have to do.

"Don't worry Duncan, we'll be right behind you the whole way," Amanda told him as she laid her hand on his shoulder pulling him away from his thoughts.

"We know you can do this MacLeod. Besides, I wouldn't miss this battle for the world, we'll be the princes of the Universe!" Methos told them trying to lighten the mood, which he succeeded at when they all started to laugh. "So what are you up to the next few days during our down time? Going off to some remote spot to spend some quality time together?"

Amanda and Duncan looked at each other not knowing what they were going to do, "I don't know, we haven't talked about it…" Duncan said uncomfortably because he knew he'd been avoiding the topic with Amanda. "What about you?"

Methos picked up on the awkwardness between his two friends before answering, "I was going to head back to Seacouver. The university is having a symposium on ancient cultures and their impact on today. I thought it'd be a good laugh to see how wrong their ideas are. I also thought I'd contact Joe, he's probably going crazy trying to find us!"

"Probably, he's lost three Immortals and we haven't contacted him in over three months. I wonder what he thinks happened to us?"

Amanda smiled as she answered, "Traveling across the galaxy probably wasn't one of them!" They all got another laugh at that one before the silence returned. "Methos, do you mind if Duncan and I speak alone?"

Taking his cue, Methos got up and dismissed himself as he left the room to go prepare for his trip.

"What's up Amanda?

She turned and looked at him deeply before finally speaking, "Duncan, tell me where your heart is?"

"What do you mean?"

Amanda tried to smile as she got up from his side, "You know what I mean. Look if you like Sam, that's fine, I'll step away."

A sad face came over Duncan as he looked at Amanda's back, "Amanda… I don't know…"

"It's okay," she then turned to face Duncan, "I know you've always had a spot for them in your heart…I guess that's what makes you mortal, you're not afraid to love for one lifetime… Besides we'll always have tomorrow, right?" she told him with a smile.

Duncan walked over to her and placed his hands on her arms, "You're an amazing woman Amanda… I just feel I need to see where this goes… there's something about her… you know I'll always care for you and you'll have a spot in my heart forever," he told her as he hugged her deeply.

Amanda closed her eyes as she held back a tear, "I know. You will too."

After a few minutes of holding each other they both pulled away from each other, "So what are you going to do the next few days?"

"I was going to go to Denver, I've never been here. Do you want to come?"

"No, I don't think so. I think I might join Methos and go back to Seacouver," Amanda told him. "You should give Sam a call…"

Duncan slightly smiled, "Maybe. Do you want to use my place there?"

"I may, thanks. I better get going before Methos leaves… take care of yourself, Mac," she told him as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and started to leave his room.

"You too Amanda… hey don't you want the keys?" he asked her as he started to look for his keys. He stopped though when he saw the sly grin on Amanda's face and remembered that keys were a formality for her. "Try not to break anything on your way in, okay?" he told her with a smile as she left him alone.

* * *

A few hours later

Duncan got up from his bed and book when he heard the knock on his door, "Jack, Teal'c, what can I do for you?"

"Hey Mac, I went looking for your fellow immortal buddies and couldn't find them. Any idea where they are?" Jack asked him as he let himself into the room.

As Jack passed him, Duncan shared a look with Teal'c who still remained in the threshold. They both shared a slight smile as Duncan motioned him in, "Please, come on in you two." Jack merely spun around and smiled at Duncan. "They left for Seacouver a few hours ago. Me-"

Jack became all serious, "What? They went to Seacouver? How could they…"

"Jack, we have a couple days of down time, so relax."

"Yeah, but I thought they'd just hang out here… the General won't – "

"He already knows Jack. Calm down, we're Immortal and we like to get out every once in awhile you know!" he told him as he chuckled at the frustration Jack was displaying.

"What if something happens to them and they're challenged by another Immortal? What then huh? We can't let them go alone!"

"Then they fight. Jack, they know how to take care of themselves. Besides, you cannot interfere in what we must do to survive," he told him seriously.

"Yeah, but-"

"No. There are no but's; what we do, we do alone. You're going to have to get used to that Jack. We have a life separate from the SGC. Yes we are safe here, but once we go topside, we live our lives and defend ourselves the way we have for thousands of years. You cannot prevent that. This is who we are Jack, you have to accept it."

Muttering to himself he replied, "For crying out loud! … I should have you all locked up!"

"Wouldn't do you much good Jack, we've all learned a few tricks over the years! Teal'c, is he always like this when you want to leave the mountain."

"He is Duncan MacLeod. He does not like for me to go up without him."

"Well that's nice to know that he's not singling us out then… If it makes you feel any better, I think Daniel went with them. He learned that Adam was going to a conference and wanted to tag along." Duncan tried to hide the smile that started to spread across his face, he knew that that wouldn't make Jack feel better.

"Oh, great! That makes me feel so much better. I've got two walking history books and an archeologist traipsing about Seacouver…"

"You know Jack, you need to relax when you are given down time. They've got over eleven thousand years of experience between them and Daniel's been to hundreds of different planets, I think they can handle Seacouver Washington!" Duncan and Teal'c shared an amused look with each other at Jack's expense. Once Jack had finally finished venting, Duncan asked him a question, "So what are you guys up to the next few days?"

"Not going to Seacouver!" Jack rapidly replied before answering the question, "That's actually one of the reasons we stopped by. We were going to go pay Carter a visit, grab some pizza, a few beers and maybe head over and watch Star Wars… Teal'c loves the movie, he's seen it over ten times." Teal'c smiled at this comment, he had actually seen it closer to fifteen times now. "Wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure. When are you guys going?"

"How about in ten minutes?"

"Sure. Do you just want to meet at the cave entrance in fifteen then?"

"Sounds good, we'll see you then."

Fifteen minutes later they all met up at the cave entrance. When Jack saw Duncan wearing a long leather jacket, despite the unusually warm evening, he was about to go into a fit about Duncan carrying a sword but he was stopped by Teal'c. Instead Jack just grumbled as they walked out to his truck in silence and headed over to Sam's house.

They all shared a pleasant evening at Sam's, but as they were preparing to leave Jack finally asked Duncan about his sword. "How do you hide that thing? I mean, we rode over here and no one would know that you have a sword under there!"

Duncan smiled back, "practice… It's one of the tricks of the trade I guess. So what are you all up to tomorrow?"

"O'Neill and I are going fishing."

"That's right, we're heading up to my cabin nice and early and going to go fishing. We're going to catch us some fish and grill it up fresh. You guys want to come?"

Duncan replied first, "No thanks, I think I'm going to try and make it to Denver and check out some art galleries."

A confused Sam finally responded, "For some reason, fish sounds good…" Seeing the happy face on Jack she realized that she wasn't quite getting her point across, "I have a craving for sushi. I don't know why though, I've never had the stuff."

"You should try it sometime, you really get a good taste of the natural flavor of the fish."

"Yeah…Thanks for the invite, sir, but I think I'm just going to catch up on some reading."

"Just make sure you relax! I don't want you going anywhere near your office!"

TBC

That's all for now... But I promise there will be more chapters... I just can't promise when :(


	23. Love

The story lives on. It never really died, I just got sidetracked (for almost two years) from continuing to post this. Those of you who started this story when I initially started posting might like a quick refresher: 1. Methos was around when the Goa'uld came 10K years ago and helps SGC translate a tablet speaking of a prophecy. 2. Methos, Amanda, Duncan join the SGC and specifically SG-1. 3. Duncan is the one spoken of in the prophecy - Man, Immortal, and Ancient. 4. Duncan saves Carter's life using Ancient healing powers while Jacob looks on. 5. SG-1 has been given some down time. Amanda, Methos, and Daniel headed back to Seacouver while the rest stayed on base. And that brings us up to now (minus a few philosophical type discussions).

And so your reward for your patience (or random rediscovery) THREE CHAPTERS!!

Enjoy...

**23. Love**

The next morning

SGC

Duncan was finishing up his kata exercises when Sam walked into the fitness room and approached him. "Morning Duncan. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Morning Sam. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could show me some of your meditation techniques and teach me some of the martial arts you know?"

"Of course! Want to start now?" Over the next hour Duncan continued to show her some of the things he had acquired over the years, starting off with a slow kata routine. To both their surprise, Sam was very adept at the martial arts and the techniques she was learning, despite not having any formal martial arts training other than the close combat course taught by the Air Force.

As they were gathering their stuff to leave Sam asked Duncan about his plans, "You still plan on going to Denver? How did you plan on getting there?"

"I thought I'd borrow a car from the motor pool. Why?"

Sam paused before answering, "Well if you don't mind the company, I could take you and show you around some…"

Duncan smiled at the suggestion, "I'd love the company. As long as you don't mind if we stop at some galleries. And while we're out there, you want to give sushi a try?"

"That sounds great. How about we get cleaned up and leave in half an hour."

They drove to Denver in Sam's '61 Volvo and did some sight seeing before going to a sushi bar for lunch. As they were finishing up they decided to go to a few art galleries for the first part of the afternoon. They started off walking through an auction's display area prior to the actual auction that would take place in under an hour. They admired and talked about the art, as well as talking about faith.

"So you believe that there is a God?" Sam asked him, surprised that he would.

"Yes. I was raised by my parents in the Catholic faith."

"But what about all the Eastern philosophy and meditation that you do? That's not exactly part of the Church's teaching."

"No they aren't. Rather they help deepen my understanding and connection with God. The more I improve myself and enlighten myself, the more open I am to seeing God in the world."

"But I don't see how you can believe that there is a God, there's no proof to support that one exists. At least with science and physics there's a level of certainty of what I know and don't, there are facts and evidence to support it. There's nothing to support the existence of God."

Duncan just looked at her and smiled, "It's a matter of faith Sam. I have to believe that there is something more to our lives than just living and dying."

"But it's so different for you. I mean, come on, your very existence would seem to discount that there is a God. You can't die, at least not like most people," she added in a whisper.

"On the contrary, it makes me believe even more that there is a God. I believe my existence and others like me were put here on Earth for a reason. You can't explain our existence but we are still here. That is what I feel about God. Especially in light of my recent evolution, I know that I have a purpose beyond myself. I can't help but look at the world and be amazed by it; I can't help but think that there was something there that moved things along a certain path. In my opinion, we are such a perfectly contrived machine, with so many little mechanisms and pathways working in concert together, for all that to arise by pure chance. It's like love Sam. You can't measure it, but when you feel the real thing you know it's there. And you have the faith that your love will last."

"How can you still have that faith about love? Mortal women you love will die."

"Because it's too beautiful and powerful a thing to not hope that it'll last forever. You give up a lot of things to spend time with the ones you really love. Death doesn't –" Duncan abruptly stopped though as he looked at the description of one of the pieces on display.

Unsure why he had stopped, she pressed him to continue, "'Death doesn't' what Duncan?" Seeing the pain in his eyes she started to worry about him as she followed his gaze. "Duncan, are you okay? What is it?" she asked him as she looked at the description and read it as fast as she could.

Duncan whispered the title of the sculpture, "Infitias suus mortalitas"

"What about it? What's it mean?"

"'He denies his mortality'… she must have done this when I told her… she never showed it to me…" he quietly told her.

"Who is she?"

"Tessa Noel… we were supposed to get married ten years ago."

"What happened?"

"She was killed. Come on, the auction's about to start and this is one of the first pieces."

Sam was saddened to learn Tessa's fate, especially since she saw how it still profoundly affected Duncan. She quietly followed him into the auction where she saw him bid fifty thousand dollars for the piece. Once he had paid for the piece and arranged for the delivery to the SGC, they left and headed back to Colorado Springs in silence. As they were approaching the turn off for the SGC, Duncan finally spoke, "I don't want to head back there. Can we go somewhere else right now?"

"Yeah, sure," she told him as she continued straight and headed to her house.

Once they were inside Duncan sat quietly on her couch thinking as Sam went to prepare some tea. She felt awkward, not knowing what exactly to say to Duncan, and so when the tea was ready she brought him a cup and sat across from him and looked down into her own cup silently.

After a few minutes of silence, Duncan finally spoke. "Have you ever met someone and felt an instant connection with them? I mean a connection so deep that you both understand each other perfectly."

Sam looked up from her mug startled by the question, "I uh… I guess not," she told him. Even though she had feelings for Colonel O'Neill they had grown out of respect for her commander, and even then, they did not really get each other all the time. And with Duncan, she didn't know what they shared.

"That's how it was with Tessa and myself… She was my one true soul mate… From the first time I met her I knew that I was supposed to know her… It's funny how we met actually, I was running from another Immortal and I escaped by jumping down onto a tour boat on the Seine. Tessa was the tour guide of the ship and she wasn't too keen on my dropping in like that and correcting her on her facts." He spoke to Sam with a smile on his face as he recalled the happy memories of the first eleven years of their life together, when she had been ignorant to the true implications of his immortality within the Game.

"What was she like?"

"Tessa was an amazing woman. She was an artist, a sculptor mainly. She had such a love and passion for life. She was the first mortal woman I told about my immortality… her initial reaction was sympathy for all the pain I must have felt as I watched friends and loved ones die… She must have made that piece when I encountered Slan. That was the first time she realized what my life as an immortal and having to participate in the Game was like, she was so worried that I would be hunted down by another Immortal… She was such a beautiful woman, and I don't just mean physically. She was never mean or violent, she hated fighting, and yet she was the strongest woman I have ever known. She welcomed people with open arms, we took Richie in together and we became a family. She knew that that was the most I could offer her, I could never offer her children of our own and yet she was fine with that… I would have stayed with her until her death and not regretted a single day of loving her…A few years ago Methos fell in love with a woman who had six months to live, she was dying with leukemia. After she passed away I asked him once if he'd want to forget everything and live it all over again, he told me he wouldn't because then no one would remember Alexa… That's how I feel about Tessa …"

As he went on describing Tessa, Sam began to understand Duncan even more, how he lived his life and what kept him going. It touched her heart to hear him speak of his love as if it were only yesterday when in fact it was over ten years ago. She finally understood what he meant that when he loves them it gives them their own sense of immortality. As she listened to him speak about Tessa she started to get a glimpse of what his life was like for him, the constant wandering and starting his life over every few years. "Do you mind if I ask what happened, how did she die?"

"She was killed by a random act of violence… Another Immortal had kidnapped her to get to me. I was able to get her out of there before anything happened to her. I told her to wait outside with Richie while I fought the Immortal. As they waited outside a kid came along and held them up… he took their money and shot them both… Richie woke up and found out he was Immortal, Tessa didn't… I left Seacouver after that and mourned Tessa for a long time… When Richie and I left Seacouver I told him to sell the antique store Tessa and I owned. I couldn't bear to go through all the stuff we had and relive all the memories that went with them. I thought Richie sold all of her artwork, but it turned out he saved all of it and stored it in a warehouse. He knew that one day I would heal and want them. He was right. I didn't know he had saved them until after I killed him, Joe told me what Richie had done…"

Duncan continued to talk to Sam about Tessa, who intently listened to him. As he spoke Duncan realized that he hadn't spoken with anyone about Tessa in a very long time, he felt a sense of relief as he spoke about her and was able to recall the memories with more happiness than sadness, as he had been prone to the past ten years. He felt comfortable and safe as he told Sam about a short but important part of his life; he hadn't felt this comfortable with a mortal woman since Tessa. After a while, the conversation moved away from Tessa and towards other Immortals he had known in his four hundred years. He told her about Hugh Fitzcairn, Darius, Xavier St. Cloud, Nick, Carl Robinson, Cassandra, Corey Raines, Kit O'Brady, Kalas, and other Immortals whom he had crossed paths with. As he spoke, Joe Dawson's name came up a few times and had Sam wondering who Joe was. Finally, after several hours of storytelling she finally asked Duncan, "You've mentioned his name a couple of times, who is Joe Dawson?"

"My watcher."

"Your what?"

"My watcher. Watchers are a secret society of individuals who know all about Immortals. They have been recording our stories in their Chronicles for centuries now. Their first rule is to merely observe and never interfere. That rule though hasn't held up in recent years. Most Immortals don't know of their existence, I know of their existence because a rogue group of Watchers started killing Immortals, they were the ones who killed Darius. That's when I learned of the Watcher society and actually met Joe, he's in charge of my chronicle. He probably knows as much about what I've done as I do."

"There are regular people who know about you guys? Why?"

"The Watchers are historians. To them we are a treasure that shouldn't be lost. When the world finds out about us they want to be able to present the facts about us." The rest of the evening they continued to talk about the Watchers and eventually they started to talk about Sam and her life.

TBC


	24. What the hell

**24. What the hell...**

The next morning

Jack walked up to Sam's door and rang the doorbell. He waited outside for a few moments when he started to hear the sound of clapping wood. Intrigued, he walked around her home and headed directly for her back yard.

He was surprised by what he saw. He quietly stood and watched as a shirtless Duncan and a work-out clad Carter were sparring with bokkens, or wooden katanas. He was surprised to learn that Carter knew how to handle a sword, he didn't think she had been training with any of the Immortals on their team.

He also felt a little jealous as he looked at Duncan's very muscular and toned body, over the past few weeks he'd noticed that the two of them had been spending a lot of time together talking. After watching them for five minutes he realized how odd it was that Duncan should be at Sam's house at nine in the morning. And though he didn't want to acknowledge it, he became even more jealous.

Jack was turning to leave when he heard Duncan yell out at him, forcing him to turn back to the pair, "Good morning Jack!"

As soon as she heard Duncan speak and mention Jack she was distracted from her opponent and looked towards Jack. At that moment Duncan stepped in close as he planted his foot behind her and forced her sword up and behind her, forcing her to stumble over his leg. He held onto her as she fell so she wouldn't hurt herself, but at the same time with his other hand he brought down his bokken to Sam's neck.

Watching Carter go down and the wooden stick coming down towards her neck he rushed to the dueling pair. "MacLeod!"

Duncan smiled at Jack's reaction as he continued to look at his defeated and shocked opponent. Duncan flipped the sword to rest along his forearm as he reached down with his free hand to help Sam up, which she readily accepted.

"When you are in battle you must never take your eyes off your opponent, especially in close combat fighting. But you allowed yourself to be too easily distracted by focusing too intently on me. When you engage in battle focus on your opponent but don't lose your awareness to your surroundings. You have to use parts of your senses to be aware, use your peripheral vision and hearing to know what is around you," he instructed her.

Jack just stared at Duncan as he helped Carter up as well who was listening intently to Duncan's words. "You okay Carter?"

"Yes sir. I feel great. I think I would have had a chance though if you hadn't shown up," she said as she smiled knowing that there was no way she would ever be able to take on a four-hundred year old warrior.

"Yeah… I didn't know you knew how to fight with one of those," he directed at Carter.

"Duncan just started teaching me yesterday."

Jack's eyes grew as he learned how short of a time she had been practicing, especially after watching the skill she sparred with earlier. "What?! No way… Duncan's been teaching me for over a month and I can't handle the sword anywhere near as well as I saw you handling it!"

"I can't explain it sir, it just kind of flows out of me. I must be a natural…"

Jack squinted his eyes as he studied her, over the past few days he'd noticed that Carter was acting differently, and there were a lot of things coming up that she couldn't quite explain. "Yeah, well I just came over to see if you wanted to head over to the base and get Teal'c and MacLeod and go to breakfast. But you're already here," he said as he motioned to Duncan.

"Would you like to stay and train with us?" Duncan asked him as he tried to avoid the subject of his being there so early.

"Teal'c'll hate us for that… But, yeah, why not. Carter, you got anything I can wear?"

"Sir, if you can fit into any of my clothes, I think I'd kill myself," she told him with a smile.

Duncan spoke up as he pictured Jack trying to fit into Sam's clothes, "I have some extra pants inside that you can use." He then headed inside to retrieve the loose workout pants he had bought the previous day as Jack lingered with Sam.

"He has clothes here?" Jack asked her quietly once Duncan was inside.

Picking up on what Jack was alluding to, she tried to clarify, "He bought them yesterday. We ended up going to Denver together and afterwards we came here and talked. He ended up staying over." Seeing his eyes widen she was more explicit as she spoke, "He slept on the couch sir." Sam was starting to feel very uncomfortable as she explained the situation to her CO. She was starting to wonder if the idea of all of them sparring together was a good idea.

Jack was both relieved and still jealous as he learned why Duncan was there. "Right. I'd better go find Duncan," he told her as he headed inside to change.

* * *

Seacouver, WA

"MacLeod! Where the hell-" Joe started to say as he exited the elevator to Duncan's loft. He stopped though when he saw Daniel come around from inside the kitchen. "Where's MacLeod?"

"Uh… he's not here," Daniel stammered as he tried to locate the familiar face from his memory.

"Where is he and what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you where he is. He's letting Adam, Am-" he stopped though when he saw Joe pull a gun from his pocket and point it at him. "Whoa…"

"You're Daniel Jackson. You died over two years ago… what do you want with MacLeod?"

"I think there's been a misunderstanding…" he told him as he looked towards the bathroom.

"Why are you after his head?"

Daniel blinked his eyes in disbelief as he realized what Joe was alluding to. "I'm not after his head, I work with him… Adam! Get out here Adam!"

Joe looked towards the bathroom cautiously as he kept his gun trained on Daniel, "What's going on here?" Daniel didn't reply as he waited for Adam to show up.

After a few seconds Adam stepped out of the bathroom towel drying his hair. "What's all the yelling about? Have you got breakfast ready at least?"

"Me- Pierson! Where's MacLeod?" Joe asked him.

Methos finally pulled the towel off his head and was surprised to see Joe holding a gun on Daniel. "Joe! What are you doing with that gun? Put that away before you hurt someone," he told him as he neared Joe.

Joe looked back and forth, from Methos to Daniel, trying to figure out what was going on, "Isn't he…?"

"No. Put the gun away Dawson."

"What's going on Pierson? Where are MacLeod and Amanda?" he asked as he reluctantly put the gun away.

"Relax Joe, he's fine. We've been working together on a project," Methos told him as he shared a smile with Daniel. "Care to join us for breakfast?" he asked as he continued into the kitchen.

"Pierson! What the hell is going on? I haven't heard from you guys in over three months!" He yelled at Methos, who finally stopped what he was doing and looked at Joe.

As Methos looked at Joe he could see the pain and fear he had been harboring for over three months of not knowing what had happened to his friends. He finally looked at Daniel and spoke to him as he threw his cell phone to him, "You better get a hold of MacLeod and tell him to get up here. Joe, I'm sorry about the last three months. But there were some things we had to take care of."

"You guys could have called, I've been exhausting every resource trying to find you three! It's like you guys fell off the face of the planet! What have you been up to?"

"Joe, I want to tell you, but I can't. That's up to MacLeod."

Daniel looked up at Adam as he hung up the phone, "Adam, he can't!"

Adam turned to Daniel, "Did you get a hold of MacLeod?"

"Not yet… he can't tell him anything…"

"Daniel, just get a hold of him will you. We'll talk about this later. Joe how'd you know we were here?"

Daniel continued to stare at Adam as he proceeded to dial Jack's cell phone, who was he to argue with a ten thousand year old man. Joe looked from Daniel to Adam and decided that Daniel knew about Adam's immortality, which concerned Joe because Methos guarded that very closely. "I drove by this morning and saw that the windows were open. Do you have any idea what I've been doing the past three months to find out what happened to you?"

"I'm sorry about that, but it's MacLeod's call."

* * *

Sam's Home

Jack opened his eyes as he looked up at Sam who was grinning down at him. "Let me help you up sir. Sorry about that last move."

Jack just groaned as he reached up to grab her outstretched hand, "Yeah, where did you learn that and what were you saying when you pulled that one on me?"

Sam thought about it before replying, "I don't know, Duncan didn't teach me that. And I have no idea what I just said sir."

Jack considered Carter's response and took note of it as something else different about her that she herself couldn't explain. He dismissed it though when Duncan came out from the house and tossed him his cell phone.

-O'Neill

-Jack, it's Daniel. Are you with Duncan by chance?

-Yeah, he's right here. Why?

-We may have a problem…

-What happened?

-Well, there's a guy here who's demanding to speak with Mac. And Adam wants to tell him about what we've been doing.

-What!? Adam wants to tell who?

-Actually he wants Mac to come here and tell him, it's Joe Dawson.

-Joe Dawson? Who's that? (Both Mac and Sam looked up at the mention of the name before approaching Jack)

-He's Adam's friend who owns that blues bar in Paris…

-Let me talk to Adam… Adam? Are you crazy?

-Quite the contrary Jack, I'm the model of sanity for men my age. Just put Duncan on the phone.

-No! First you tell me why you want to tell Joe all about us?

-It's up to MacLeod. Now get MacLeod.

(Jack clenched his fists as he reluctantly handed the phone off to Duncan.)

-Methos?

-Mac, you have to talk to Joe.

-I know. I'll be there tonight. Can you put him on?

-Yeah, hang on a sec…

-MacLeod?

- Joe.

-What the hell is going on? I haven't heard from you in over three months!

-I know. Look I'll be in Seacouver by the end of the day. I'll meet you at 8 at the bar.

-Fine

-I'll see you later tonight Joe.

-Yeah MacLeod. Watch your head.

-I will.

As MacLeod and Dawson wrapped up their conversation Jack was speaking with Sam, "Do you know who Joe Dawson is?"

"He's a friend of theirs. He's also Duncan's Watcher."

"His what?"

"His Watcher, sir. They're a secret organization that knows all about Immortals and records their actions."

"You knew about this Major, and you didn't tell me?"

"Sir, I just found out last night."

"Yeah… So what are we supposed to do now?"

Sam fumbled as she tried to provide an option, but just then MacLeod hung up the phone and walked over to Jack to hand him back his phone. "Thanks Jack."

Jack was shocked at Duncan, "No problem," he told him sarcastically. "You mind telling me what that was all about and why you might want to tell a civilian about the SGC?"

"Joe's a close friend and my Watcher. He's in charge of my chronicles; he observes what I do and records it."

"Yeah I got that part, but he doesn't need to know about the SGC."

"I think he does, and I trust him. If he doesn't know what I am doing then he will start a search for us and he won't give up until he finds out. And trust me, he can find out, but not without raising a lot of alarms."

"There's no way he'd find out! There's no point in telling him! Sorry, you're not going anywhere."

"Jack, I'm leaving for Seacouver today. You can either come with me and bring an NDA form just in case, or you can stay. Either way, I'm going to meet Joe tonight."

"You don't have permission to do that!"

"I'm a civilian and I'm not on the Air Force payroll. Do you trust me Jack?" he asked him.

"I go thru the Stargate with you don't I?"

"Do you trust my judgment though?" After waiting for Jack's response he continued, "I truly believe he needs to know what has happened to me, he'll need to understand what's happened to me. He's a historian and what's happened to me needs to be recorded, through objective eyes!" he added when he saw Jack was going to interrupt mentioning their own mission reports. "None of the SGC mission reports detail what's really happened because of our Immortality, and we're all grateful to you for doing that. But the truth has to be recorded and you know it. Now I trust Joe, and I think if you give him a chance you will too. When we first came here we told you we wanted to meet Teal'c and General Hammond before we decided whether or not to tell them. I make the same offer to you concerning the SGC and Joe. Come with me and decide for yourself. No matter what your decision, I am going to Seacouver, whether or not I tell him I'll leave up to you. So what do you say?"

Jack considered what Duncan was proposing, "You would want to bring him into the SGC and have him document what's really going on? Why are you leaving the decision up to me?"

"Because I trust you Jack," Duncan told him sincerely.

Jack studied Duncan momentarily before turning to Sam, "Carter, what do you think?"

"I see his point sir. The truth has to be recorded, and we can't do that from within the Air Force. The call's yours sir."

"Yeah… We better go talk to General Hammond before we leave," he told them both.

"Thank you Jack. I'll make the flight arrangements to fly commercially. When you start your background check you can start with Marine Vietnam vets."

**TBC**


	25. Strange Bedfellows

**25. Strange Bedfellows**

Seacouver, WA  
That night

Duncan was about to knock on the bar entrance when the door opened and was held open by Methos. "Methos."

"MacLeod, a word of warning, he's quite pissed off at us," he cautioned him as he led Duncan and the rest of SG-1 into the blues bar owned by Joe Dawson.

"Thanks for the warning," he whispered before he caught sight of Joe standing behind the counter with a drink in his hand, not making a move to approach him. Duncan realized that if Jack decided not to reveal the SGC to Joe, then his own relationship with Joe would suffer a setback. As he approached the bar he nodded his head acknowledging Daniel and Amanda who sat at a table off to the side. When he stood in front of his old friend he finally spoke, "Joe."

Joe took a sip of his drink before tersely responding, "MacLeod."

Duncan decided to introduce his teammates before going any further, "Joe this is Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"Yeah, we've met. In Paris, a little over three months ago," he added with a hint of anger as he shook his hand. He wondered about the rank though since Adam hadn't used them in Paris.

"And this is Murray and Major Samantha Carter. This is Joe Dawson." Duncan said as he finished up the introductions.

"Murray," he then looked at Carter as he studied her face. "Major. Have we met before?"

"No, I'm pretty sure we haven't. I'm not from around here."

"You look very familiar to me, I don't know why though. Can I offer you all a drink?"

As drinks were handed out, non-alcoholic beverages to the military personnel present, Joe kept avoiding Duncan. "So, what brings you all out to Seacouver?"

"Dawson, I should have called," Duncan told him.

"Yes you should have, that's what friends do! Do you have any idea what I've been going through the past three months? The three of you disappeared without a trace. All I knew was that Me- Pierson was on his way here and I probably should have been on that flight as well! What could you have been possibly been doing for three months that you couldn't even find the time to pick up the phone?"

Jack quietly spoke under his breath, but not as quietly as he thought, "Saving the world!"

Joe snapped and looked at him, "What? Me-" He caught himself again before uttering Methos' name.

Duncan decided to speak, "They know Joe… They know about us Immortals, and now, the Watchers."

"What? You're kidding right?"

Methos finally spoke, "No Joe, he is not. They know all about us, in fact they know some things about the three of us that you don't know about."

"Like what?" Joe demanded.

"How old do you think I am Joe?"

"Around five thousand years old… why?"

"I'm actually older than that. I'm actually closer to ten and a half."

Joe's eyes went wide as he realized what he was hearing, "Ten and a half thousand… Christ, I knew you were old, but I didn't know you were that old!"

"Yeah, well the people in this room and two others are the only ones who know that. So let's keep that one under wraps shall we?" Methos added with a smile as he went behind the counter and served himself another beer.

"Why'd you tell them?"

Methos looked at Duncan and Jack in silence momentarily before Duncan spoke, "Because we share a common goal."

"A common goal? And that would be…?"

"Saving the world," Duncan told him.

"You're telling me that you, Amanda and Adam have been saving the world?"

"Yes."

"How does an archaeologist, a Colonel, and a Major all fit into that plan?"

Just then Jack's cell phone rang and he excused himself as he answered the call, they all waited for him to return before continuing on. As they waited they caught bits of the conversation, "… Jacob's waiting?… Not yet… tomorrow morning…" Once he closed the phone he returned to the group, "Carter, your dad's waiting for us. Surprise, surprise, he wants to talk to us!"

Joe stared at Sam as he searched his memory, finally he spoke to Sam, "Is your dad Jacob Carter?"

Carter was caught off guard as she answered him, "Yes…"

"Was he a helicopter pilot in the Air Force during 'Nam?"

"Yes, he did two tours there. Do you know him?"

"That's why you looked so familiar, you look just like him! Your dad worked with my platoon a lot back in '67-'68. He got us out alive out of a lot of jams back in the jungle. I don't think he ever paid for a drink on account of my platoon buying him his drinks! How is he?"

"Fine, he retired as a two-star."

"Tell him 'Boy Scout' Dawson says hello and that I think I owe him another drink."

"I will."

At that moment Jack finally decided what he was going to do about Joe, "If you'd like, we're going to see him tomorrow, you can join us if you like?"

Duncan stared at Jack and asked him a question, "Jack, are you sure?"

"Yeah. Tell him."

"Tell me what?" Joe asked as he looked from Jack to Duncan.

"What we've been doing the past three months. You may want to sit down for this one Joe. Methos, want to tell him what happened ten thousand years ago?"

Over the next few hours they told him about the Stargate, the Goa'uld, the Ancients, the prophecy, and Duncan's evolution. Joe at first was unbelieving but once he saw the empty pouch in Teal'c's stomach he began to believe.

"I knew there was something about you Highlander. This is all just so incredible; it's going to take a while for it to sink in. No offense to you guys, but this is bigger than the Watchers and our mission!" he told them with a smile as he got up to get a drink.

Jack recalled what he had discussed with Duncan and General Hammond earlier that day, "How'd you like to become a part of it?"

"What? You're kidding!"

"Nope, we need someone to document what's really happening with the SGC and the assistance we've been getting from the Immortals, we can't include it in our reports. There are only two other people outside of this room who know the whole truth, about the Stargate and the Immortals. We'd like you to be in charge of documenting what happens, you'd be working with the base doctor to help fill you in on some of the Stargate-related information. You'd have to cut yourself off from the Watcher's though, they can't know about any of this."

"I can't do that last part. If I leave the Watcher's it'll raise too many questions. Rather, we tell them that Duncan and Amanda moved to a remote monastery to enjoy each other's company in safety and that the Immortal Adam Pierson joined them to continue his training. They know I'm friends with MacLeod, they'll understand it if I tell them I'm following them to some remote location. I can then offer to watch all three of them since no one else would want to go there. I can feed them some stories every once in awhile, but otherwise they'll lead quiet and uneventful lives. If we want to do this right, that's how we need to do it."

The Immortals all shared a look as they followed Joe's reasoning. Duncan was the first to voice his approval, "He's right Jack. He can't leave behind the Watcher's and it provides a perfect cover for the three of us."

Jack considered the idea as he looked at the rest of SG-1 to gauge their response, "Fine. But the Watcher's never learn about any of this."

"Colonel, I know how to keep a secret and this one is too important to reveal. We'll probably need about a week to set it up though."

Jack spoke as he decided to fill them in on the phone call he had received earlier, "It'll have to wait a few days. Jacob and several other members of the Tok'ra, including their High Councilor, have come for a visit. They want to speak to Duncan, Adam, and Amanda."

**TBC**


	26. Pain

Chapter 26: Pain

Two days later  
SGC Storage Room

"You know we'll have to tell them, why not do it now?" Methos asked Duncan as he brought his sword down deflecting MacLeod's attack.

"Because they won't believe it now. They'll need to see me in action first and start to question me further before they'll accept that there's something more to me. Besides I don't want to reveal to them what I am when I don't yet know what I am fully capable of. The less people know about us and the prophecy, the less likely the Goa'uld will come after us. We need more time," he explained as they continued to spar.

They sparred in silence for ten minutes in the empty storage room before Methos finally spoke as he launched an attack, "So what's with you and the Major?"

The comment caught MacLeod off guard as Methos attacked his midsection and sliced him across his stomach. Once the momentary shock of Methos' comment and his injury wore off, he was able to launch his own attack on Methos ignoring the pain in his stomach. After a fast and demanding attack, he won the battle as he stopped his sword at Methos' neck and finally answered, "Nothing." He smiled as he pulled his sword away from his friend's neck and then stumbled backwards a few steps before falling to the ground clutching his stomach. "God, that hurts!"

Methos approached his friend with a questioning look as he bent down to look at his stomach, "Is that wound still bothering you? It was just a flesh wound!"

"I know," he told him as he grimaced. "Why's it taking so long?"

Methos thought about if for a few moments before he came up with a solution, "Because you are mortal. From now on it'll probably take you longer to heal from wounds, there's probably a sort of balance in your body concerning your three states. Let's try something shall we?" Duncan nodded his head as he tried to ignore the pain. "First, don't ignore the pain, accept it within your body. Secondly, see if you can focus on a certain being within you. In this case, focus on being Immortal with rapid healing abilities."

Duncan closed his eyes as he tried to focus and follow Methos' advice. He was interrupted after a minute though by the base speaker, "SG-1 report to the Infirmary immediately!" Duncan and Methos looked at each other as they headed to the infirmary. They were slowed down by Duncan who was still recovering from his wound.

* * *

SGC Commissary

"So how was your downtime? Did you do anything fun?"

Sam tried to avoid going into details with her best friend, "Yeah it was good. Went to Denver with Duncan."

"What'd you two do?"

"Not much really. I showed him around, went to a few auctions, he ended up buying a piece of art by his former fiancé. We talked…a lot."

"You like him don't you? Don't give me that look Samantha. I've seen you the past few months! Isn't he with Amanda though?"

"He says they aren't, sometimes they are though. They have an on-again off-again relationship. I definitely respect him and enjoy his companionship… But romantically? No… Why, does it look like that?" she asked Janet as she looked around the mess hall.

"Well I don't know, you've been spending a lot of time with him recently. You also talk about him a bit…"

Shocked, Sam continued on, "Really? He's just such an amazing guy! He gets me, and the past few da- Aghhh!!!" She yelled as she reached down and grabbed her stomach.

"Sam? What's wrong?" she asked as she went over to Sam who continued to grimace and quietly yell at the pain. "Somebody get a gurney down here now!"

A few minutes later a gurney arrived to take a struggling Sam to the infirmary. When she arrived she saw that General Hammond was already there waiting for them. "Doctor what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure sir. We were talking in the mess hall when she started getting a pain in her stomach. There's no visible outside injury. I'm going to do an ultrasound to see if that reveals anything." Once she finished speaking with General Hammond she went to Carter's squirming body and started the ultrasound. As she started the test she spoke to the General again, "Sir, I don't know what's affecting her. I can't see any obvious physical reasons why she's in so much pain right now. She says it feels like someone took a knife to her stomach and cut her across. I'll have to run some more tests though to try and find out what's going on Sir."

"Very well, continue Dr. Frasier." He then headed to the door way and approached the intercom unit and spoke to the whole base, "SG-1 report to the infirmary immediately!"

Within a few minutes most of SG-1 had arrived to find Dr. Frasier finishing the ultrasound. Duncan and Methos were the last to arrive. When they walked in they all noticed that Duncan was grimacing and clutching his stomach. Dr. Frasier immediately approached him worrying that the team had contracted some illness or something on their last trip through the gate while General Hammond had the infirmary cleared of non-SG-1 personnel. "Duncan what's wrong?"

"Nothing. We were just sparring… What happened?"

"Let me take a look at that Duncan. Major Carter is suffering some severe pains in her midsection." When she finally got Duncan to lie down on one of the gurneys and remove his arm from across his stomach, she noticed the cut shirt and beneath it the cut that was still bleeding. She considered what she was seeing and her other patient, "When did this happen?"

"Ten, fifteen minutes ago."

"Why hasn't it healed yet?"

Duncan looked at Methos and shrugged, "I'm not sure. Methos thinks it's because I am mortal; he thinks that it's going to take me longer to heal. It's actually starting to feel better finally," he told her as she started to clean up the wound that had finally stopped bleeding.

Once it had been cleaned of the blood, she then returned to Sam's side as a theory started to form in her mind. "Sam, can you show me where it hurts?" She then watched as she saw Sam point from just below her lowermost right rib to the middle of her stomach on the left side. She noted it that it was in the same path as the cut Duncan had across his stomach. "Sam is it feeling any better?"

"Yeah, its not as bad, but it still hurts like hell. What is it?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think in a few more minutes the pain will be gone," she told her friend as she held her hand trying to offer her some comfort. She glanced over at the status of MacLeod's injury that finally started to heal slowly as small electrical currents traversed his injury. They all noticed that the speed of the currents was slower than normal. "Just a little bit longer Sam."

Daniel watched Duncan heal as he stood near Sam, he also noticed that she didn't appear to be in as much pain as before. "Janet, how do you know she's going to be fine?"

"A hunch," she told him quietly. Once Duncan had finally fully healed himself, Dr. Frasier turned her full attention to Sam. "Sam, how are you feeling now?"

"Fine, there's no pain at all. I don't get it? I feel perfectly fine now…" she told them as she looked at the faces of her colleagues and her stomach.

"Just as I thought…" Janet quietly exclaimed as she checked Sam out.

General Hammond questioned Dr. Frasier, "Doctor, what just happened? What was just as you thought?"

"I'm not exactly sure, sir. With your permission though I'd like to perform an evaluation on Major Carter before we speak."

"Very well, SG-1 report to the conference room in one hour."

TBC

* * *

Author's Note: I'm going to start posting again to this story. I have no excuse for it being so long since my last posting, especially since I have most of this story written. So expect a barrage of chapter's to come in the next week or so.

Author's Note: The same can be expected for a few of my other stories, but not as quickly since not as much is written for those.


	27. Connected

Chapter 27: Connected

"Major, how are you feeling?"

Joining the rest of her team in the conference room, she sat down, "Fine sir. Thank you sir."

Glad to hear that his resident physicist was fine, General Hammond turned to Dr. Frasier hoping to understand what had happened to Sam. "Doctor, what was the cause of the pain that Major Carter experienced?"

"Sir, there are no physical signs as to what caused the pain. The MRI, ultrasound and blood tests all came back normal."

"Could she have contracted something on the last mission?"

"No sir, I checked her out completely once they returned, especially once I was notified that she had died. Sir, there seems to be no logical physical explanation as to what happened to Major Carter," she told the base commander as she looked down at her notes.

Noticing that there was something that his Chief Medical Officer wanted to say, he questioned her further. "Doctor Frasier, is there something you'd like to add?"

Taking a deep breath she decided to reveal her theory. "Sir, I'm not completely sure what happened to Major Carter, its just speculation…"

"Go on Doctor."

"When Mr. MacLeod came into the infirmary he had a deep flesh wound to his abdominal section which he received while sparring with Mr. Pierson." Seeing the two Immortals nod there heads corroborating her understanding, she continued on. "The wound he had was from just below his lower right rib to the middle of his left side," she told them as she pointed out on her own body. "Major Carter described the pain she was suffering as more of a surface cut than something internally. The pain she felt covered from below her lower right rib to the middle of her left abdomen on the side. Mr. MacLeod told me that he was injured ten to fifteen minutes before he showed up, that coincides with when Major Carter first felt the pain. There's also the fact that shortly after Mr. MacLeod's wound had healed, Major Carter did not feel any more pain across her abdomen."

Colonel O'Neill, who was barely understanding what Frasier was implying, asked her to clarify, "What're you getting at Doc?"

"Sir, I think that there is some sort of non-physical connection between Mr. MacLeod and Sam. There are too many coincidences."

"Why now though? Why not on any of the other missions that Mac's been injured?"

"I don't know, Sir," she told them as she hoped they didn't think her crazy.

Duncan who had been quiet the whole time finally spoke up, "Because our last mission was when I saved her life."

"Yeah so?" Jack asked still not believing that they were suggesting a sort of empathic bond between Duncan and Sam.

"Think about it Jack, you saw what I did. I placed my hand over her wound and healed the physical site as little electrical currents were transferred from my hand to her wound. I then placed my hands over her heart and head to bring her back to life. There wasn't any transfer of electrical currents that time, my hands just glowed over her head and heart as they too started to glow."

Teal'c, who had been listening intently, started to piece the situation together, "You physically healed her by sharing your Immortal capabilities, and you brought her to life using the healing powers of the Ancients. That does not explain why Major Carter and you would share a metaphysical empathic connection. When Ayiana healed the personnel at the Antarctic base, no one developed any such connection with her."

"When I had my hands over Sam's head and heart I felt an electrical surge in my hands."

Methos asked for clarification, "What was it?"

"My Quickening I think."

The Immortals were shocked at this revelation, "You harnessed your Quickening?"

"I think so. Some of it must have transferred to Sam when I brought her back to life."

Jack still wasn't seeing the connection, "So, what's so special about that?"

Methos took it upon himself to explain, "Immortals can't harness their own Quickening, it is a part of our essence. We can feel each other when we approach because our fields bump into each other. The only way an Immortal's Quickening can be transferred is when another Immortal takes his head. Remember when we told you that when a Quickening, or beheading, takes place the victor absorbs the loser's Quickening, power and strength. It's possible that some of Duncan's Quickening was transferred over to Sam when he brought her back to life."

Daniel asked the next question, "Would that account for Sam feeling what he's feeling?"

"I'm not sure. It is his Quickening, he is still connected to it. Maybe his Quickening feels what he feels… Sam have you noticed anything else different about yourself since the last mission?"

Sam looked away from Duncan as she turned to Methos and answered him, "No, I feel like myself…" In her mind though she knew that there was more to having some of Duncan's Quickening. She realized that she was tied into him, she understood him better. As she thought, she recalled her time with Orlin, she then decided that Duncan must have done the same with her, he must have shared his soul with her.

It was finally making sense in Jack's mind as he recalled the differences he had noticed in his 2IC, "Uhh..."

"Colonel?" General Hammond asked him.

"I don't know, it's little things… Like the sushi thing Carter, you've never had the stuff and you were craving raw fish the other night… And you were handling the bokken like you'd been training with it for months, not a day! You also didn't know where you learned that move that you used on me when we were training at your place. You gotta admit Carter that the past few days you've felt things or known things without knowing how…"

"Yeah I guess so… So what happens next?" Sam asked.

Methos answered the question, "Well, when Immortals take in a Quickening we tend to display some of their characters only temporarily, a few weeks at most probably."

"So what happens if MacLeod dies? I mean one of those deaths where he does that whole Lazarus thing?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. It's not like this has ever happened before Jack. I think we're just going to have to wait this one out. I'm sorry Sam," Methos told her as she looked at him and absently nodded.

Jack, on the other hand, was worried, "What happens to your Quickening when one of you dies? Does it go dormant or go super active? Come on, we need answers here!"

Almost everyone present continued the discussion about trying to find out the extent of the connection between Duncan and Sam. The only ones not to speak in the ensuing conversation were Duncan and Sam who were quietly thinking and reflecting on their connection. As the conversation around them was heating up, Duncan sent a thought to Sam across the table, "_Sam, I'm sorry about all this."_

When she heard Duncan in her mind she looked up at him and nodded her head. 'You saved my life, why should you apologize?'

As she finished her thought Duncan's eyes went wide as he continued to stare at her, "_What did you say?"_ Carter just gave him a confused look. _"You just said "You saved my life, why should you apologize?"_

Carter's own eyes went wide as she 'heard' Duncan repeat her thoughts. _"You can read my mind? I thought you couldn't."_

_"I can't… At least I don't think so…"_

_"Try it with someone else, she suggested."_

Duncan then turned his thoughts to Amanda who was seated right next to him. "_How you doing Amanda?"_ Amanda merely just smiled at Duncan and patted his hand before returning her attention to the conversation the others were involved in. Hearing nothing from her he then turned back to Carter. "_I didn't hear anything from her. It must be because we share some of my Quickening…"_

"_Yeah, but why all of a sudden can you hear what I think?_"

_"Maybe because you want me to hear what you are thinking, or because I initiated communication with you… or maybe it's because you were thinking of me… Try to block your thoughts from me by thinking of something else? Or you could just try to close me off…"_

Sam nodded her head and went on, "_Okay, here goes..."_ She then cleared her mind before finally choosing a topic to review, 'The basis of string theory is that there are infinitesimal one-dimensional loops, or strings, that vibrate at different frequencies giving the universe all the forces and particles present; particles are not the fundamental element. It's believed that a string will-'

General Hammond, who had noticed Sam and Mac's silence, tried to get their thoughts on the matter, "Major Carter, Duncan, is there anything you'd like to add?"

They were both startled from their private conversation and stared at General Hammond and then everyone else before looking at each other again, "_Do we tell them?"_

_"It's your call… I feel they may be more interested in what has happened to you than to me. Quickly, what were you thinking about when Hammond interrupted us?"_

_"You didn't hear it? I was talking about string theory. That means that there is a way to control it…"_

_"It may be useful to bring them in on this, they may be able to help us control and understand this… But it's your call…"_

Sam paused before answering, _"I can't believe everything that's happening to me. I need to understand it…"_

After waiting for an answer Jack tried to get them to speak again, "Carter, Mac… we're not getting any younger here." Major Carter looked at Duncan one last time and nodded her head. "All right, what the hell is going on between the two of you?"

Sam looked at everyone else around the table and began to tell them what she had just learned, "Sir, there's something else different about me that Duncan and I just discovered…"

"What could you have just discovered while we were sitting here?" Jack asked sarcastically.

General Hammond glared at his 21C and prodded Sam along, "Go on Major."

Sam nodded her head and took a deep breath as she told them, "Thank you Sir. It seems that Duncan and I share a telepathic link." Seeing that Daniel was about to interrupt she continued faster before he could get anything in, "It's not one way. I can hear what he's thinking and he can hear what I'm thinking…"

Everyone else around the table didn't try to hide their shocked faces. "I thought you said that you couldn't read our minds? And that even if you could, you wouldn't want to," Jack demanded of Duncan.

"I know that's what I said, but that was before I shared some of my Quickening with her. I can't hear everyone's, I already tried with Amanda and it didn't work. And it's not like I'm reading her mind, but rather it's a discussion we're having. We're not sure what the limits of this connection are, we're still trying to iron that out."

"How long has this been going on?" Dr. Frasier asked of her friend. She didn't like to think that she had been hiding something from her.

"We just found out while we were sitting here and discussing what's happened to me," Sam told them.

General Hammond made his decision on how to proceed, "Dr. Frasier I would like you to run some more tests on Major Carter again, and also on Mr. MacLeod. I'd like to know if there are any differences when they are speaking and when they aren't. The rest of SG-1, I want you to help them understand what's going on and find the limits of their abilities," seeing the nervous look on Major Carter's face he reassured her. "Don't worry Major, I just want to know what is going on."

"Yes Sir."

"Dr. Frasier, Dr. Jackson, please keep me informed of what you learn. That'll be all for now," he told them as he dismissed them all.

TBC


	28. Alone

Author's Note: Thank you very very much to all those who have taken the time to review! I truly do appreciate it! Some of the reviews left have even got me re-thinking the story!

* * *

**Chapter 28: Alone**

**Three weeks later  
General Hammond's Office, SGC**

General Hammond was sitting at his desk when he heard the knock on his door and bade the visitors in, "Come in." When he saw Duncan and Joe walk in he stood up to greet them, "Duncan. Joe. Have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"Thank you sir," a grateful Joe told him as he lowered himself into the chair across from the base commander.

George smiled at the veteran before him, "Joe, you're not in the military anymore. Call me George." George felt he had no right asking the man to call him sir when he had already given so much to his country.

"Old habits are hard to break!"

"General Hammond, I need a favor," Duncan told Hammond

"What is it Mac?" George was slightly shocked by his use of Duncan's nickname.

"I need to go away for a month."

George tried to hide his shock and unease of letting Duncan go, "Can I ask why?"

"You know why we don't want to reveal my real nature to the other races quite yet. I have another reason. I can't go to the other races without being in control of who I am and when, in addition to not knowing what I am capable of. I need a month to meditate and discover who and what I am. I need to be in control of all my powers and knowledge at all times before we gather our army. Once I can do that, then the others will readily follow us."

Not liking the idea but knowing that Duncan was right, and that there was nothing he could really do about it, he tried to see if at least he could bring him back sooner, "A whole month?"

"At least," Duncan told him succinctly as he waited for an answer.

"Where will you be going to?"

"To a temple in Asia."

George finally resolved himself to the fact that he would have to let Duncan go, but he hoped there was something he could do about that. "Very well. I'll take SG-1 off the list of current active teams and have them accompany you."

"George, I have to discover this on my own. Joe will come with me only to record what I discover."

"I'm not to keen on the idea of letting the man who is going to lead the battle against the Goa'uld go to Asia alone."

"If I am going to lead us and be successful, I have to do this alone."

General Hammond stared at Duncan as he reached a decision, "I can't stop you can I? Very well then… What am I supposed to do with Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG-1?"

"I'll tell them. But in the meanwhile, they need to stay on active duty and go offworld. They need to grow as well without my assistance. When the battle begins, I don't know if we'll be able to fight together. We must each be able to fight on our own General Hammond," Duncan told him honestly. He had projected into the future and knew that indeed there would be trying times ahead for SG-1, some times he would be available to help, and other times he would not.

"When do you want to leave?" General Hammond asked him.

* * *

**Three weeks later  
Janet Frasier's house**

Samantha Carter walked up the walkway leading to her friend's house and rang the doorbell as she looked around the neighborhood waiting for the door to open. As she heard the door unlock she turned her attention back to the door. "Hey Ja- Daniel?"

Daniel stood in the open doorway as shocked as Sam, "Sam… Uh hi…."

From inside, they both heard Janet's voice as she started to head to the front door to see for herself, "Who is it Daniel?" She didn't receive a response as she turned the corner and looked at the open doorway to see Sam standing there. "Sam?!"

Sam turned her shocked stare from Daniel to Janet, behind Janet she could see into the dining area that was romantically set for an evening for two. Realizing what she had walked in on, Sam started to back away, "Uh sorry, I'll come back some other time Janet." She told them as she turned to leave, hurt that neither of her two closest friends had told her.

Daniel turned back to Janet with an unsure look of what to do. Janet however knew that she had to tell her friend, "Sam, wait. Come back!" she yelled as she chased after her. She finally caught up with her as Sam was reaching for her car door. "Sam, I'm sorry I didn't tell you! It just kind of happened recently. I've been wanting to tell you. Please, come back and join us for dessert!" she pleaded with her friend.

Sam stood still as she heard her friend out and then turned to face her, "How long you two been seeing each other?"

"A couple of weeks, this is our third date."

Sam's face softened as she realized that they had been lucky to find one another, "I'm happy for you Janet. But, I don't want to interrupt. I'll come by some other time."

"That's ridiculous Sam! You're already here, come inside and we can talk."

Sam finally decided to join them since she really needed to talk to someone. Once they were inside they ate the dessert that Janet had prepared and started to talk.

"So, when exactly did the two of you get together?" Sam asked her friends.

"It wasn't exactly planned, we were working late one night and so we headed out to get something to eat," Daniel told her.

"What were you guys working on?"

"We've been working together a lot since we discovered your link with Duncan. We'd been trying to piece it all together and understand it and we started to enjoy each other's company I guess," Janet explained.

"Do you guys think there is any more to my link with Duncan?" Sam asked them seriously.

"No. I think we've found the extent of your link. Luckily, you're no longer feeling his pain anymore. Can you still speak to him telepathically?" Daniel asked.

Carter looked down as she tried to avoid the topic, "I don't know…"

Janet was surprised, she knew that Sam was developing a bond with Duncan and she thought they would have stayed in touch while he left for his retreat. "Haven't you contacted him since he left?"

"No. He asked me not to contact him while he was away. He said that he needed his complete attention on what he would be doing at the temple he went to."

Janet and Daniel both noticed the frustration and sadness in Sam's voice as she spoke and Janet was the first to inquire about it. "Sam, what's wrong?"

Trying to play it off, she responded in as nonchalant a manner as possible, "What do you mean?"

"Come on Sam. What's up with you and Duncan?"

Sam looked at both her friends as she tried to decide whether or not to tell them. She finally decided that she needed to tell someone, "I don't know. I really respect and admire him. And I'm grateful to him for saving my life. I feel like there's this really deep connection between the two of us… he understands me and now I can sometimes know how he feels… I can't explain it, but there's a certain comfort knowing he's nearby… That's what's got me so worried about our mission tomorrow. I just have a bad feeling about it and… And I can't get a hold of him and tell him because he asked me not to!"

"Sam you can't start thinking like that about our mission tomorrow. It's all in your head. Besides, we're going to be fine. SG-1 has been through a lot, and we're going to keep on going," Daniel told her. He was shocked to hear Sam explain her 'connection' with Duncan. Part of him wondered if it was in her head. "Listen Sam, SG-1 has always been about the team working together. That's what we do. We take the best from each of us there and come home alive. The moment you stop believing that, the team collapses."

"I know. It's just that there's so much more to my connection with Duncan," she told them as she tried to deal with her own frustrations concerning her relationship with Duncan. "Look, please don't tell anyone about this."

* * *

TBC


	29. Check It Out

**Chapter 29: Check It Out**

**The next day  
PY7-42X**

SG-1 emerged from the Stargate on PY7-42X and looked around their surroundings. Colonel O'Neill was the first to comment, "Look, we're in the middle of a forest! Can anyone explain to me why the Ancients decided to place almost all the Stargates in the middle of a forest? Huh? Anyone?"

Adam looked through the now empty Stargate, "Actually Jack, we're not in the middle of a forest."

"What do you mean? Look around, there's nothing but trees here!"

Daniel followed Adam's gaze and couldn't help but smile, "He's right Jack. We're actually on the edge of a forest," he told him as he pointed to the cliff wall standing behind the Stargate.

Everyone else followed Daniel's hand and also shared in the amusement. "Yeah well… there's trees around… Come on let's move out kids, we've got a long hike to the temple that the UAV saw," he told them as he started to lead the group away as everyone else smiled behind his back and started to follow suit. As he led the group away, he mumbled to himself, "Semantics! Figures I'm stuck with a couple of linguists, what else can I expect?!"

They walked for four hours before night fell and made camp for the night. Early the next morning they set out once again for the temple that they could now see. Two hours later they stood at the base of the temple and walked the perimeter to find no signs of current life, and eventually an entrance. Before they entered the structure they waited for the scheduled SGC contact to notify them that they were entering and would be out of communication for the next 36 hours.

After two hours of walking around the temple they finally discovered the central chamber that had a sarcophagus in it. When Col. O'Neill saw the Goa'uld device he voiced his concern, "Man! Is there anywhere that those guys haven't been?!?"

"There are in fact many worlds that the Goa'uld have not ruled over. We have been to many of these worlds O'Neill," Teal'c told him matter of factly.

O'Neill turned and looked at his teammate wishing, as he often did, that he would recognize a rhetorical question. "Yeah T, thanks… So Danny, who's been here?"

"Well according to what I've read so far, the 'God' who ruled here was named Meheronet. It seems he was in power for several hundred years."

"Yes, but the million dollar question is: where did everyone go?" Methos added as he turned away from the writings on the wall and approached the sarcophagus to inspect the writings on it. He tried to hide the smirk on his face as he passed Jack knowing that Jack was upset because he had beaten him to the punch.

The rest of SG-1 walked around the room looking for any clues or remnants as Methos and Daniel started deciphering the writings. After a few minutes of inspecting the room Colonel O'Neill got bored, "Danny, Adam, you guys work on translating this stuff. Carter, Amanda, help them out and get video recordings of all this. Teal'c and I will go check this place out some more."

An hour later, Sam and Amanda had finished their recording and done a little of their own exploring in the surrounding chambers before returning to the sarcophagus. When they re-entered the room they didn't see Adam or Daniel. "Where are they?" Sam asked as she tightened her grip on her P-90.

"Methos is around here somewhere, I can feel him… Methos! Where are you?"

Daniel stuck his head up from behind the sarcophagus as Methos answered, "Down here! Amanda come here and take a look at this will you?"

"What is it?" she asked as she and Sam approached the sarcophagus. When she stood behind them she knelt down to inspect what they were indicating as Sam stood back and listened.

"Does this look like it's been tampered with?"

"Can't say for sure since I've never seen one of these before. But, if I had to say… yeah, it looks like someone got in here," she told them as she ran her fingers along the edges of the panel.

"I didn't know there was an internal panel here… You know Sam, if we can get inside we may learn how the sarcophagus works and we might learn something that we can use against Anubis' super soldiers," Daniel excitedly told her as he considered what they may discover.

Sam, who was feeling anxious as the feeling of dread came back, asked Amanda, "Amanda do you think you can get past that panel?"

Amanda turned around and smiled before going to work on the panel, "In eleven hundred years I haven't come across a door I couldn't get through!"

"I'll let the Colonel know then," she told them as she reached for her handset as she leaned against the wall.

* * *

"So T, what do you think happened to the people here?"

"There is insufficient evidence to make a conclusion O'Neill," Teal'c honestly told him.

"Yeah… hey aren't we close to the entrance?" Jack asked him as he looked around the corridors.

"I believe it is around the next corner."

"Let's go get some fresh air," he suggested as he headed towards the temple entrance. As soon as he turned the corner he stopped in his tracks and his eyes went wide. "Uh T… we didn't close the door did we?"

Teal'c came around the corner and saw what Jack saw, that the entrance they had used was now covered by a large stone. "We did not O'Neill."

"Yeah, that's what I thought…" he told him as he approached the stone. "Do you see a panel to open this thing?"

"I do not."

"Great…"

He was reaching for his radio when it came to life. "Jack! Get back here now! Sam's been in an accident and she's injured!"

Jack looked at Teal'c momentarily before they broke off into a run for the central chamber. "We're on our way! What happened?"

"She fell, just get here quick!" the handset told him.

Ten minutes later Jack and Teal'c arrived at the chamber. "What happened? Where is she?" he yelled as he ran to the side of the room where he saw Amanda and Daniel crouching and leaning into an opening in the wall.

They told him what happened as he looked down to see Adam leaning over an unconscious Sam. "She was about to radio you from right here when this wall must have given way and she fell through. We didn't see it, we were over by the sarcophagus. She's alive, but she's still unconscious."

Jack eyed the twenty feet of space between the two levels when he finally pulled out a length of rope from his pack and threw it at Teal'c to serve as an anchor as he lowered himself down. "How is she?" he asked Adam.

"Not sure. I can't really tell yet because I don't want to move her in case she hurt her neck or back. She does have a cut on her forehead; she may have a concussion. And her left arm is broken," he told him as he pointed at the oddly bent arm under Sam.

"You know what you're doing right?" he asked.

"I used to be a doctor in another century… Right now we have to wait for her to wake-up."

"Isn't there anything we can do to speed that up?" he asked with deep concern in his voice. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if she was paralyzed.

"Not really. Talk to her though. Let her hear a familiar voice. Bring her out of her subconscious… Once she wakes up we have to get her out of here. We should send a team to the Stargate to have Hammond send Dr. Frasier."

Jack silently cursed as he leaned over Carter, "We can't. The entrance is blocked. A rock is covering our exit right now. We're going to have to find another way out. First, we take care of Carter…" he told the rest of his team as the gravity of their situation deepened. Colonel O'Neill then leaned in close to his second in command in the hopes of awakening her. "Come on Carter. Wake up… we've got a long walk ahead of us back to the Stargate, you've rested long enough now Major, and don't think I'm going to carry you…"

After a few minutes of speaking to her, Jack and Adam started to see her eyelids flutter as she started to moan. When she finally did open her eyes, the first thing she saw was Colonel O'Neill's concerned face. "Sir," she whispered with a grimace on her face.

"Hey Carter, nice of you to wake up," he told her with a reassuring smile. He was pleased to see the smile returned though he could detect the underlying pain. When he saw Carter attempting to move he pushed her back down. "Hold on, wait 'til Adam checks you out… I'll make sure he doesn't linger too long over certain parts though."

Sam quietly smiled as she listened to her CO, "Thank you sir, I appreciate it. You can never trust 10,000 year old men and their dirty minds…"

Adam smiled as he at least saw Sam in good spirits, "If the two of you are done not respecting your elders, the doctor does need to examine his patient… Sam can you feel your toes?"

* * *

TBC


	30. Piece of Cake

24 hours later

"How you feeling Carter?"

"As good as I can be, considering, sir," she told him sadly and distantly.

"Carter, you're going to be alright," Jack told her.

She brought her eyes to look into his, "Sir, I could be paralyzed! How can you say I'm going to be alright?"

"Look, Carter, I doubt you're paralyzed. You've regained sensation in your extremities and Adam thinks you're going to be fine. You'll be on your feet in no time."

"Then why won't he let me sit up?" she asked him as she let her frustration show. For the past 24 hours she had been completely immobilized by Adam who feared that she may have severed her spinal cord after not having any initial feeling in her feet after the fall.

"Because I told him not to take any chances. We haven't secured a way out of here yet and when we do find a way I want you walking… It's going to be okay Sam, we'll get through this," he gently told her.

Sam closed her eyes as a tear escaped, "I'm so scared … What if I am paralyzed?" she asked him as she abandoned her military training.

"Don't think like that. We are not going to let that happen! If, and I do mean if, you are paralyzed, then when we get back to the SGC Duncan will heal you. So, no matter what, you are going to walk again."

"What if we don't get out of here?"

"We will. You can tell Duncan where we are."

"I can't. I don't know if our telepathy works across the galaxy. And even if it did, I can't contact him… not while he's at the temple…"

"What?!?! Why not?"

"Because his time at the temple is a test for us as much as it is for him. He needs to know who and what he is if we want to destroy the Goa'uld. I can't and I won't interfere, he's too important."

"The team needs you as much as we need him, you are not going to give up on us… We'll get you out of here," he told his second in command as he tried to comprehend the fear she felt. "Adam will be here in a few minutes, he and Teal'c are working on getting us out of here. They're trying to find a bear or something like that…"

"A bear?"

"Yeah, a bear. You know big furry animal, walks on all fours. A bear…" When he saw the smile appear on Sam's face he continued to explain what exactly they were doing. "One of the walls in this room mentioned making contact with a bear to find the way home. So Teal'c and Adam are looking for a bear."

"Yes sir," she told them as she thought about the bear that they were in search of. "Any progress on the sarcophagus?"

"Amanda was able to open that panel, she's studying the inside right now. We may want the Tok'ra to take a look at this stuff, they may understand the crystals better than we can… Doc's here, I'm going to go check on the others, I'll see you in a few."

Sam opened her heart and took a chance, "Sir, will you please stay while Adam…" She couldn't voice the words herself, but luckily her commander understood her and stayed by her side and placed his hand on her shoulder.

After several minutes of examining her, Adam decided that she was out of danger of being paralyzed. The only injuries she had to worry about were the dislocated shoulder, broken arm and the cut on her forehead, much to Sam's relief. Once she was cleared, they helped her into a seated position and was re-checked to make sure that nothing had been aggravated. Adam then reached for the gauze on Sam's head, "Let me change the dressing on that." When he pulled the covering away his eyes went wide.

"What is it?" a worried Sam asked as she saw the reaction on Adam's face.

Jack looked at Adam and then at Carter's forehead, "Wow! What the hell…?"

"What?" Sam demanded again.

Adam shook his head and inspected the area closer as he brought his hand up to touch the area. "The cut has completely healed itself. There are no marks whatsoever that you even got cut here… I don't understand…"

"It's healed? How is that…?"

After thinking about the situation for a few moments Adam realized what had happened. "The Quickening… MacLeod's Quickening must have left you with his healing abilities… albeit seems to not work as fast for you… The cut should have taken at least a week to fully heal and leave no signs, you did it in a day… How's your arm and shoulder?"

"They still hurt, but not as bad as yesterday… Does this mean I can't die?"

"I doubt it. The Quickening resides in you and it is healing you, but I don't think there is enough power in it to bring you back from the dead. We can't sense you, not even as a pre-Immortal."

Samantha looked up at the ceiling of the room in relief, she would be okay. However she felt uneasy as she learned another thing she inherited from Duncan. She was momentarily distracted by the crackling radio, "O'Neill, we have not found any signs of a bear in the temple thus far," Teal'c conveyed over the radio.

Colonel O'Neill responded into the radio, "Okay, Carter's going to be-"

"That's it!" Carter yelled in excitement. "There on the ceiling is the night sky and the constellations. There's the big dipper, Ursa Major… And look, there's a rock right under it! That's gotta be the bear we make contact with to get out of here."

Adam and Jack shared a look and shrugged their shoulders as Jack headed towards the rock. As he walked he spoke into the radio, "Hang on a sec, T. We may have something here." Jack O'Neill bent down and picked up the stone before looking at both his companions and then throwing the stone at the center of the constellation.


	31. Location, Location, Location

Three weeks later

SGC

"How's the arm doing?"

Sam looked over at her commanding officer, "Fine sir. I have full strength and range of motion in it… To be honest, it kind of freaked Dr. Frasier out!"

"I can imagine the physical she gave you. Well maybe you won't be prodded as much after future missions…" Jack commented to her, wishing that he wouldn't have to suffer through Frasier's post-mission physicals. He then turned and looked at the active Stargate as it finally connected to the other side, "So Davis, any idea who's knocking on the door?"

Sergeant Davis read the screens in front of him before responding, "It's the Tok'ra sir."

"Those guys don't waste any time… Open the iris," he told him as he headed down to the gate room to greet their visitors. "Jacob! Long time no speak! How's it hanging?"

Jacob merely smirked as he answered, "Fine Jack. Sam," he spoke as he hugged his daughter. When he stepped back, he lowered his head as Selmak voiced his thoughts, "The Tok'ra High Council request a meeting with Duncan, Adam, and Amanda."

As Jack led them to the conference room where the rest of the team was waiting, he responded, "I knew you were going to ask that!… General Hammond, look who's here."

Greetings were exchanged around the room and then Selmak reiterated his request. Duncan provided the answer, "We'd love to. We have a few questions for you as well."

"Which questions?"

Methos answered with a smile, "All in due time Selmak."

"SG-1, you'll be scheduled to leave in three hours. Dismissed."

*

Two Days Later

Unknown Planet

"Everyone okay?" Jack yelled out as he got up from the wall he had braced himself against.

Slowly, the rest of his team inspected their own bodies and reported back that they were all fine. "I thought Jacob knew how to fly one of these things…" Jack stated as he started to head to the flight deck.

"If he hadn't been flying, we probably would have had a much worse landing…" Methos told him. "We're just lucky Duncan told us to jump out of hyperspace when he did… how did you know?" he asked as he turned and waited for a response.

"There was something about Anubis' attack that didn't sit well with me, he must have infiltrated the base. They didn't give chase as if they knew something would happen… that and right before we boarded I saw someone sneaking off the ship. The ship was sabotaged," Duncan told them as he headed off to find the Tok'ra High Council.

After seeing that the Tok'ra were fine, they split up to assess the damage to the ship and check its flight worthiness while others secured the area. After several hours of work on the ship they concluded that the ship was not capable of flight and that they had no idea where they were.

"So, anybody got any ideas?" Jack asked everyone.

"It doesn't look good Jack, whoever sabotaged us knew how to do it in such a way that is very hard to fix, and even then with tools that we don't have here. It's probably going to take us a week to get this operational, and even then we're not sure if she'll fly. There seems to be quite a bit of structural damage to the ship after the landing…"

"So we're stuck?" Jack clarified.

"I didn't say that Jack, things just don't look good for us…"

"Right… Carter give them a hand will you."

"Yes sir," she responded as she walked over to her father and the rest of the Tok'ra High Council.

As she approached her father lowered his head momentarily and when he looked up again Selmak was in control, "Before we begin, we would like to speak with the Immortals of your team. We have many unanswered questions concerning them."

Methos and Duncan looked at each other and nodded their heads, "We'd be glad to answer your questions, however you must answer one question for us," Methos told them.

Per'sus, Selmak, Malek, Dovera, and Zalanyl, all of the Tok'ra High Council, looked at each other and all agreed to Methos' demands. Methos then proceeded to ask them, "When the battle against the Goa'uld is over, what do the Tok'ra plan to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the battle against the Goa'uld will soon be over and-"

"What makes you say that? We have been fighting and subverting the Goa'uld for 2000 years, this battle is not near an end, especially with the arrival of Anubis. You told Selmak that an army was being gathered to be led by an Ancient, we demand to know more."

"All in due time my friend, first though you answer our questions… As I was saying, this war will end soon, what will the Tok'ra do? You have only known how to fight against the Goa'uld, how to infiltrate and subvert them, you serve this cause against the Goa'uld. But once it is all over, what will you do for yourselves? Will you all retire to a planet, will you disappear? Or will you replace the Goa'uld and proclaim to be gods?"

Malek, the youngest of the Council, was outraged, "How dare you liken us to the Goa'uld? We would never pose as gods! That is not the way of the Tok'ra!"

"What is? Subversion and infiltration?" Methos asked.

Zalanyl spoke next, "And what of the humans? What will you do when the war is over?"

Daniel took it upon himself to answer, "We will live, on Earth. We'll continue doing what we have for thousands of years. We'll keep exploring and making alliances because that is part of our nature, but we'll be safer than we were before. We'll know that we don't have to worry about being enslaved by the Goa'uld…"

Per'sus quietly spoke as he listened to the discussion, "Adam is correct, we do not have a plan for after the war, but that is only because we believe that the end is not near. There is no reason to look that far into the future."

"I tell you that this war will be over soon. And you must consider the future, you must have hope. If not then you lose sight of what you are doing now and why. I strongly advise you to come up with an idea of what you would like to do once this is over. Until then, we have nothing to speak about." Duncan then turned around and nodded at Methos and Amanda as they followed him away from the group, leaving the other members of SG-1 shocked.

Daniel chased after the departing trio, "Uh… do you think that was wise?"

"Yes. Daniel, we can't go forward if they don't know what they are going forward to. We all need goals. I feel that some of them have forgotten that. For most of the Tok'ra it is the symbiote who is most in control, the human host has latched onto the ideals of the Tok'ra, but at the same time they have forgotten what their previous lives were like. They need to remember what it is like to hope again, to know that war will not occupy them forever. I know that the Tok'ra are good beings, I know what they will probably decide, and it's a good choice; I just want them to be aware of it sooner rather than later. I want them to make that conscious decision and prepare themselves rather than have them be lost when the war is over," Duncan quietly told him as he projected future events.

"Yeah, I agree with all that, but do you think now was the best time to bring that up? We need to find a way off this planet."

"I know, but this is important. They need to be ready soon, we all do. We don't have much time, but we do have time for this. Relax Daniel, by tomorrow they'll know what they want."

"Are you going to tell them about you?" Amanda asked him.

"Yes, once we return we need to actively start recruiting all those who want to help us fight the Goa'uld."

"That is if we get off this planet…"

"We will, you just have to hope…" Duncan told them as he looked up at the twilight sky.

*

The next afternoon

"Hey Sam, do you have that video feed on your computer?" Duncan asked.

Sam looked up from the laptop she was working on, "Yeah I just finished splicing it all. I still don't know why…"

"It may be our ticket out of here…"

"What? I've spent the past hour splicing this all together and you're telling me that a video of the night sky is our ticket out of here? I should have spent the past hour working on the engines…"

"Trust me Sam, play the video at ten times speed."

As Sam was about to start the show, Col. O'Neill walked up, "What're you doing kids?"

"Watching the night sky sir…" a skeptical Carter told him.

"Huh…?" he asked as she started the video. "Cool video…" he added as he watched the stars race across the night sky.

Midway through the video Amanda walked up to the trio, "The Tok'ra… What are you guys doing?" she asked them as she saw the video of the night sky.

Jack who was entranced by the video woke up from his reverie, "Good question, what the hell are we doing watching a video of the night sky? Carter?"

"Duncan thinks that it's our ticket off this planet sir. I have no idea what he means," she quickly added when she saw that he was about to question her further.

"Duncan? Hey, Mac, what's up?" Duncan ignored him though as he intently watched the video. "… Okay… Anyways, what about the Tok'ra Amanda?"

"They want to speak to us, they've come up with a plan. They're waiting outside."

"Okay, Carter when this is done head on out with MacLeod."

"Yes sir, this should be done in another twenty minutes."

Several hours later as night fell they were wrapping up their discussion of what the Tok'ra planned on doing. Their current idea involved setting up a community among the Orbanians or on the abandoned Revenna. They would begin to explore on their own and make their own alliances while still maintaining their allegiance with the Tau'ri so long as they assisted in the battle against the Goa'uld. They agreed to act as healers mainly, either through the transplantation of symbiotes to dying individuals or the use of healing devices. Once they were satisfied with their explanations, the Tok'ra turned the tables.

"Why do you think that the war against the Goa'uld draws to an end?"

"Because among the Four Great Races, there exists a prophecy."

The skeptical Malek was shocked to hear the basis of their argument, "A prophecy?!"

"Yes a prophecy," Duncan then went on to repeat the prophecy in the secret Ancient language and then in English. "We discovered this prophecy on Vis Uban, when some of the knowledge of the Ancients was downloaded into my mind. Later on, all of their knowledge was downloaded into my mind, where I still have access to it. You see, I am the one in the prophecy, I am Human, Immortal, and an Ancient. I will be the one who leads the final battle against the Goa'uld."

The Tok'ra High Council was skeptical upon hearing Duncan's words, however over the next couple hours SG-1 explained all that had happened to Duncan since Vis Uban, including some of his past when he was just an Immortal. Duncan withdrew himself from the conversation as he once again looked up at the night sky. As he observed the sky he meditated and then started to project. In his mind he scanned the knowledge of the Ancients pertaining to the addresses of all planets with a Stargate. Using the knowledge of what trajectory they had been traveling along while they were in hyperspace and how long they had been in it, he used the original star map configurations of when the Stargate system had been developed and watched as millennia of years passed and the stars shifted. Eventually he was able to locate the planet he was on based on the projected drift and the current star patterns and realized that there was a Stargate on the planet. Once he knew that there was a Stargate on the planet, he entered an even deeper meditative state as he scanned for the presence of the Stargate.

"There's a Stargate on this planet," Duncan quietly told everyone around him after ten minutes of reflection. The silence spread around the group.

"How…?"

"I know where the Ancients placed the Stargates, they made a map of the entire Stargate system. I was able to update that map taking into account spatial drift. All I needed to do then was compare what we see here with the new map. Sam, that's why I had you record the night sky last night."

"Do you know where the Stargate is?" Jack asked him, he completely believed everything Duncan told him.

"We're a little too far to pinpoint its exact location, but I know in which direction," he told them as he pointed across the lake beside them.

Malek spoke next, "You actually believe him? That he knows where all the Stargates are? You are fools to believe him!"

Sam was the first to defend him, "Yes we believe him. He's done things that we can't explain. He brought me back to life, I trust this man. We all do," she said as she motioned at the rest of her team.

Jacob addressed his daughter, "Come on Sam, this is a little hard to believe…"

"Dad, he saved my life. Trust him, he'll get us out of here…" she told him.

Jack then spoke, he couldn't help it if they didn't believe them, "Look, we're leaving tomorrow morning at first light. You can come with us or not. SG-1 let's get packed up and ready for tomorrow," he told them as they spread out to prepare their packs for the next day's hike.


	32. Perceptions

**Chapter 32: Perceptions**

Forty hours later

SG-1 and the Tok'ra High Council were walking along the far side of the lake when Teal'c walked up beside Duncan, "Can you still sense the Stargate Duncan?"

"Yes, we're pretty close I believe. I think it's on the other side of that hill."

"What do you sense?"

"I'm not sure," he succinctly replied.

Teal'c considered Duncan's actions through out the day and the reserve he had been displaying, "Is something the matter Duncan MacLeod?" Duncan looked over at Teal'c and saw the concern in the man's stoic face. "I noticed that last night you did not sleep well and wandered away from the camp for over an hour," Teal'c told him.

"You saw that… You didn't tell O'Neill?"

"I did not. What troubles you Duncan MacLeod?"

"I am haunted by my dreams. I have seen terrible visions…"

"Are we in danger Duncan MacLeod?" Teal'c asked him as he surveyed their surroundings.

"No, for someone else whom I care deeply for. I have had them only once before… The Stargate is this way," he told him as he led them off in another direction to head over the hill.

Half an hour later they reached the top of the hill and looked down into the valley below where a Stargate stood in an open field. A half hour later they were standing in front of the Stargate. "This is just great!" Jack exclaimed once he heard Daniel state that the DHD was damaged. "We came all this way for nothing…"

"Don't give up on us yet Jack. Let us take a look at it," Jacob told him as the Tok'ra began to inspect the DHD.

Duncan once again looked around his surroundings and opened up his mind and senses, "There's another way…" He whispered to himself.

Daniel, who was standing near by, heard him and started to think of opening the Stargate. After a few minutes he came up with an answer, "He's right! Duncan's right! There's another way to open the Stargate that doesn't involve the DHD!"

Everyone looked up from what they were doing to listen to what Daniel had to say. Jack prodded him for an answer first, "What Daniel? How the hell else can we activate the Stargate?!"

"We don't need the DHD… we have Duncan!" Everyone around them was now utterly confused. "Do you remember when we brought Shifu, the Harcessis child, back to Earth? When he left he was able to activate the Stargate from another room, he didn't use our computer consoles at all… When Shifu did that he Ascended, he became one of the Ancients. Duncan should be able to operate the Stargate without the DHD!"

Duncan looked at Daniel as he listened to him, "He's right," he told everyone. He then looked at the Stargate and mentally thought of the address code for Earth and then willed the Stargate to dial the address. Shortly thereafter the Stargate came to life as the chevrons for Earth were activated.

Once the wormhole was established Jack voiced his amazement, "Cool trick Mac! That'll come in handy again… Let's go home kids," he told them as he sent the GDO signal and walked up the steps to travel back home.

Several hours later in the SGC conference room the team and the Tok'ra were being debriefed. Duncan was making one last request of the Tok'ra before they left for their current home world. "Per'sus, I must ask you and the rest of the Tok'ra present to not reveal anything you have learned these past few days, not to the other members of the High Council or any other of the Tok'ra. We cannot let the Goa'uld know that their time is near. If they were to find out then they would be relentless in their attacks and we may not be prepared sufficiently to fight back. I trust you, but the Goa'uld have developed many techniques to learn one's knowledge. The less people know of us, the better."

* * *

Later that night  
Commissary

"What's up Mac?" Joe asked Duncan as they sat in the mess hall alone.

"I need you to do me a favor Joe."

"Anything, that's what friends are for," Joe told him with a smile. He'd missed Duncan for the three months when he had disappeared, and once he had learned what Duncan was involved in and what depended on him, he was even prouder of the Highlander.

"You won't like it… It involves the Watchers," at that, he saw Joe's face fall. He knew how much his oath to the Watcher's meant to him. "Something's happened to Kate. I need to know who's after her. I need to know if she's alive."

"Aww, come on Mac! Don't ask me that!" Joe begged his friend. "I thought we decided we wouldn't do this!"

"I know, I'm sorry… Joe, I think she's dead, I need to know who killed her… Please Joe, she's my wife," he pleaded with his friend.

Joe looked into the Highlander's eyes and tried to decide, "Why?"

"Because I had a vision last night. The last time I had a vision like that was right after I took Connor's head, when I thought Kell had killed Kate…"

"You want to use the Watcher's to hunt another Immortal down! I can't do that!"

Duncan knew that he was testing their relationship, "I know Joe. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked… Can you at least tell me what city she was in the past two nights?"

Joe looked down into his cup of coffee and decided how far he could stay true to his loyalties to the Watchers and to his closest friend. He took a final sip of his coffee and slowly and difficultly got up from his chair. He turned to leave when Duncan called out to him stopping Joe in his tracks as he heard the deep pleading and sorrow. He turned back to his friend, "I'll see what I can do."

Joe left Duncan alone in the commissary and didn't notice Jack hovering just outside the entrance. Once Jack saw Joe leave he entered the mess hall and sat down across from a distant MacLeod. "Hey Mac, everything okay?"

MacLeod looked up from his tea and stared at Jack. "I may have to leave for a few days."

"Where to?"

"I don't know yet."

"Why you going somewhere?" he was trying to get some background information to go along with what he had overheard.

"To take care of some business. It doesn't concern you…" Duncan told him trying to end the conversation.

"See, that's where I disagree. I don't like the idea of you hunting for a fight with another Immortal," Jack told him revealing that he had overheard his conversation with Joe. "You could lose."

A slightly shocked MacLeod glared back, "I won't… not this one…"

"Why? Because of your wife?"

Duncan heard the contempt in his voice as he uttered the word 'wife', at that moment he realized that Jack was jealous of him because of his close friendship with Sam. He realized that Jack wanted to protect Sam because he cared for her, more than he should have according to the rules of the military. "You have no idea what you are talking about Jack so stay out of it," he told him as he left for his room.

* * *

Eight Days Later  
Paris

"Why doesn't he just zap the guy with his lightening show and get this over with?"

Joe looked over at his companions, "How long have you known Mac?" he asked them shocked at the question.

"Seven months. Why?" Jack asked wondering what that had to do with anything.

"Duncan is a Highland warrior, he prides himself on his sense of honor and battle more than anyone I know. This is an Immortal battle, they use swords," Joe told them.

"MacLeod won't even let someone else fight to save his life. He's too damn stubborn sometimes! Immortals fight with swords, that's what he is now. He believes in fate in battle, he wins because he trains hard. The idea of cheating and killing him with lightening before taking his head doesn't exist in his mind, not on this battlefield… He once threatened to fight and kill me when I was about to behead another Immortal to protect him… He would have because in his mind it was his battle and his alone," Methos told them.

Several minutes later Duncan's sword made a final sweep severing his opponent's head from his body. The Quickening they saw Duncan absorb amazed Jack and Sam. They watched as electrical currents, that seemed to come from nowhere, racked his body. As they watched, Sam asked Methos a question, "And every time you take someone's head, that happens?" she asked as she pointed at the light show in front of them.

"Yes. The more kills your opponent has, the stronger the Quickening…"

"How many have you killed?" Jack asked.

Methos turned to him, "No idea, ten thousand years tend to blur. Besides, I don't keep score. We call it the Game, but for me it's about survival."

Jack respected the answer, "What about Mac? How many heads has he taken?"

Joe answered that one, "One hundred and seventy-seven now. This is the first head he's taken in almost two years… since Kell."

"You guys have mentioned him before, who was he?"

"A very bad Immortal who had no respect for the Game and the way we fight, he lived to exact his revenge on Connor MacLeod… Connor made a choice though, he sacrificed himself so that Duncan could kill Kell…"

"Would Duncan ever do that? Would he sacrifice himself like that?"

"A few years ago, he would have. He fights so that the winner of the Game is not a dangerous person. More than anything though, he fights to live."

"What about against the Goa'uld? Would he sacrifice himself for that?"

"Yes… He knows who he is though, he wouldn't let it come to having to make that choice. But if it was necessary, he wouldn't hesitate…" Methos told them quietly. He knew that when the Highlander got an idea into his head, there was almost no way of stopping him. Methos thought of the sacrifices he would make to make sure that Duncan survived the battle against the Goa'uld. Hopefully the prophecy would be true and it wouldn't come to that.

* * *

TBC


	33. Sacrifices

**Chapter 33: Sacrifices**

The next morning  
Duncan's Barge

Sam woke up early the next morning and found their host gone. She saw her CO sleeping on the floor and smiled, he had insisted on her taking the couch. She walked into the kitchen and saw the steaming kettle, she then poured herself a cup of tea and headed out. When she emerged from the berth she saw that a light fog had settled on the city. She finally found Duncan sitting on the front of the barge. Duncan was the first to speak, "Care to go for a walk?"

They walked in silence for five minutes along the Seine before Sam stopped him and asked him a question, "Who was he?"

Duncan looked at Sam and knew that he had to tell her the truth and be honest with her. He led her to a bench and sat down before explaining, "He told me his name was George Riley…"

"Why'd you do it?"

"They didn't tell you?" Duncan was surprised. "… A week ago he killed my wife Kate…"

It was now Sam's turn to be shocked, "Your wife? I thought…" Sam tried to find words but was at a loss from the shock of learning that Duncan was married.

"Kate and I met in 1715 and I could sense that she would one day become an Immortal. We fell in love and got married. On our wedding night I regrettably decided to give her her immortality, I stabbed and killed her. I wanted us to live together at the age we were, I didn't want her to keep on aging while I didn't. When she awoke she was terrified and ran away from me, she hated me. She hated me for robbing her of growing old and denying her the chance to have children, she didn't know that it was already impossible for her to bear children. Until two years ago, I hadn't seen her. She still hated and resented me. She joined forces with Kell to get back at me, to get her revenge by making me suffer and feel a great loss in my life. After Connor's death, I thought she had been killed by Kell and I felt sure of it when he threw me a necklace I had given Kate that I know she still had. After I killed Kell, I found her alive, she had found a sort of peace. She didn't hate me anymore, but she hadn't forgiven me yet. For me it was enough for the time being, we still had tomorrow. I had hope… He took that away from me…"

They sat in silence once he finished telling Sam their history. Sam tried to absorb everything he said and tried to understand the feelings and emotions he had. Duncan looked back on what he had done and was disgusted with himself.

"I've never hunted another Immortal before… I don't know what got into me…"

"I don't know what to say…"

"There's nothing to say… I've become an Immortal that hunts, that lives on revenge…" Duncan was devastated as he saw what he had become, he had become like those he detested.

"No Duncan, you are not! You're a good and honorable man. What you did was a mistake, an impulse rooted in loss, you can't blame yourself for that!"

"Can't I? I've dealt with it before. Everything I've learned from Darius and Sean Burns I've disregarded. Killing him wasn't going to bring Kate back!

"No, but that doesn't make you a bad man! You know as well as I do that one action doesn't define a man. I've learned that from you more than anything… Despite the changes you've undergone, you're still human Duncan, you make mistakes just like the rest of us. You're not infallible! You once told me that we all make mistakes and change and that Immortals just do it more. Well, this was a mistake. You need to move on, that isn't who you are," she told him quietly. "I think you're more upset because you don't know if she forgave you before she died…"

Duncan didn't respond at first as he considered what she said. After several minutes of silence he spoke again, "You're right… It's hard to accept that she's gone when I loved her, and to think that she died hating me… I never thought it would end like this… I could accept that we would never be together again, but… I should have tried harder to reconcile things…"

"There was nothing you could have done Duncan, she needed time on her own to heal. She had almost three hundred years of anger and revenge to get over… You don't know whether or not she forgave you, but you at least know she was trying. Before she died, she had hope, you couldn't have given her anything more…"

"Would that be enough for you? Hope?"

"From you? Yes… you've already given me hope Duncan; you've given me my life back… When we destroy the Goa'uld I won't have to worry about my children becoming slaves to them, we will have freed them and us!"

As he listened to her speak he renewed his confidence in himself, "Sam, you're an amazing woman… I haven't felt this comfortable with someone in a long time…"

Sam was shocked and uncomfortable. She recognized that she had a special bond with Duncan, but she'd realized that they weren't romantic feelings. "I uhh… Duncan…"

"It's okay. I know. Sometimes I wonder though what would have happened to us if we had met under different circumstances… If I wasn't mortal…" he added almost inaudibly.

But Sam had heard him, "What do you mean if you weren't mortal?"

Duncan closed his eyes as he sadly revealed another trait of his evolution, "One of the traits that comes with being mortal is that I can have kids…"

Her eyes went wide at this revelation but was confused by his apparent sadness, "Why aren't you excited? I would think you would want to have kids!"

"There's nothing I'd want more, but I can't. How would I explain to my child why I never age and yet they grow old? Or why their mother dies as I'm in perfectly good health? How can I sit next to my child as they die?… No, I can't do that to myself or to them, that loss would be too great…"

"My God, I'm so sorry…" Sam wanted to reach out to her friend but didn't know how. There were no words of consolation for such a situation. "If there's anything I can do…"

"I know, Sam. Thanks. You're one of the closest friends in my life, I'll never forget what you've given me…"

"It's me who can't thank you enough! You've opened up my eyes and mind! Everything's changed! What have I done?"

"You listened… you understood me… I wonder if we could have had a relationship, but you know as well as I do that we can't."

"I know," Sam told him honestly. Though she had grown to care deeply for him, she knew that things were different between them. Watching Duncan take in the Quickening had enforced that- they were from different worlds. She respected Duncan immensely, but after what had happened on PY7-42X she knew her heart still belonged to another. She had merely transferred her attentions because of their situation.

"Besides, your heart belongs to someone else… Sam, let your heart love… the battle against the Goa'uld won't last forever."

* * *

TBC

Author's Note: I'm too much of a Jack/Sam shipper to put Sam with someone else!


	34. Regroup

**Chapter 34: Regroup**

Two Weeks Later  
SGC

"Unscheduled off world Activation!"

The members of SG-1 raced to the control room to see who was trying to get in. "Have we received a signal?" General Hammond asked of Sergeant Davis.

"No, sir. We're not receiving any signal."

"Keep the iris closed Sergeant."

They stared at the Stargate waiting for an IDC to come through, unfortunately it never came. Instead they were shocked to see a holographic projection of Anubis standing in front of the sealed Stargate, "Your precious planet will fall before the day is over. I will rule over Earth and make it mine!" The transmission ended as abruptly as it had started. Within five seconds the iris started to glow and the monitors in the room started to indicate the changes that were going on.

Sam rushed to one of the workstations to monitor what was occurring. "What's going on Major?"

"General, he's attacking us using several different methods. He's using a particle weapon to penetrate the iris. He's also using a radiation device again, the levels are higher than last time, he must have made some modifications!"

Hammond switched on the intercom connected to the embarkation room, "Clear the room! And seal the blast doors!" He then turned to Sam, "How much time do we have?" General Hammond asked his brightest scientist.

Sam looked at the monitor again and watched the rising numbers, "Not long sir. I'd say less than three hours…"

"Do you have any suggestions Major?"

"Sir, it would take too long to move the Stargate…"

Jack then turned to Duncan, "Hey you can turn one of those things on, any chance you can turn one of those off?"

Duncan stared at the Stargate as he considered Jack's suggestion, "Yes. In fact I can do something better…" he told them as he headed down to the embarkation room.

SG-1 followed him down to learn of his plan, "Mac, what are you going to do?" Jack asked.

"I can shut off the Stargate from this end. That won't be enough though, I need to destroy that weapon and disable the Stargate fro

"Well, yeah I'd love to do that as well, except there's a little problem in that we can't get there!"

"You can't… I can. I can transport myself there in a different plane, I can go there and disable the weapons he's using. I can get the address for his planet, once I return we'll dial that planet and I can transmit a disable code to that Stargate. He won't be able to use that Stargate again."

"You can do all that?"

"Yes… Relax, remember what the prophecy said, it said that I would harbor great powers, well this is another one of them…"

Daniel asked the next question, "Why do you have to go in there though? Why can't you do it from the control room?"

"This is my first time trying this, I don't know how far I can project myself… When this is over we're going to have to do some explaining to the rest of the people here…" They arrived at the door leading to the embarkation room, "I'll see you in a bit," he told them as he swiped his card and entered the room.

The rest of SG-1 rushed back to the control room to monitor Duncan's progress on the security monitors. "Do you think this'll work Carter?" Jack leaned over to his 21C.

"I don't know, sir. I hope so, this may be our only shot."

"Yeah… I hate not having options…" he mumbled to himself as he watched the monitors.

On the security monitors they watched Duncan walk up the ramp and place both his hands on the iris. They watched as he started to glow and develop a white aura around him, "Why's he gotta go do that whole Ascended thing?" Jack grimaced.

"I believe Duncan said that he had to transport himself on another plane of existence. It would be only natural for him to Ascend," Teal'c told him stoically.

"Thanks T," Jack turned and smiled.

Methos then cleared his throat to catch the General's attention and looked around at everyone else in the room, they were staring wide-eyed at the monitors as they watched Duncan glow. The General picked up on Methos' concerns and addressed everyone present, "No one is to repeat or speak about what's going on here. I will explain everything once this is over. Is that understood?" he asked. He only received informal uh-huhs and head nods as they were all transfixed watching the monitors.

Duncan stood with his hands on the iris for ten minutes before the aura that had enveloped him disappeared and he then removed his hands. Just before he removed his hands the iris stopped glowing from the bombardment of particles and the sensors in the room indicated that the radiation levels were steady and then slowly starting to go down. Duncan then turned to the cameras, walked down the ramp and smiled as the wormhole disengaged.

"The wormhole's been terminated, sir… Shall I dial out?" Sergeant Davis asked.

Colonel O'Neill answered, "Nah, watch this…" he told them as he pointed at the monitors again where Duncan was turning to face the Stargate again. Suddenly the Stargate was activated and started to dial out, faster than the computer could.

"Sir, the Stargate's dialing and we're not controlling it! Chevron Three encoded!"

"Yeah it's okay, Duncan's got it under control…"

"Sir, I don't understand…"

"All in due time Sergeant, just watch! Oh, and open the iris" Jack told a shocked control room.

After a few seconds the seventh chevron was locked, "Wormhole established!"

Duncan then walked up to the wall of shimmering water and held his hands up to the wall of water. He closed his eyes and transmitted a signal to the receiving Stargate. As he pulled his hands away, the wall of water disappeared severing the connection with the other Stargate. He then turned around and nodded at the security cameras. "It's over. Anubis won't be using those weapons or that Stargate again," he said as he started to walk out of the embarkation room.

Several hours later the base had been informed of Duncan's current status of having the entire repertoire of the Ancients knowledge in his mind. They explained his control of it due to a genetic anomaly he carried. Once the base had been notified General Hammond sat down with SG-1 in the conference room.

Duncan was the first to speak, "General we have to start putting our plan into action."

"What exactly is our plan?" Jack asked.

"We need to start collecting our allies and prepare them for the battle against the Goa'uld. Anubis won't wait much longer. He must suspect something after what just happened. This is probably only a small setback for him, he'll keep trying though. We need to bring our allies into the loop."

"Mr. MacLeod, who exactly do you think we should bring into the loop?" General Hammond inquired.

"First and foremost, the Asgard. Also the Tok'ra, Hebridians, the Kelownans, the Cimmerians, the rebel Jaffa, the Nox, the Unas…" Duncan listed many more of the planets that had encountered the Goa'uld and were ready to get rid of them. "We need to attack the System Lords directly as well as the worlds where they have power. With what the Tok'ra have learned about the Sarcophagus on PY7-42X, they should be able to take care of several of the System Lords directly. The main threat will actually be the Jaffa, we need to liberate the worlds that they are occupying. We need to show the Jaffa the truth and give them an option. We have to launch a galaxy wide assault in a small window of time. The problem is Anubis, he's going to be the most difficult to kill. We can't use the Sarcophagus on him."

"How much time do you think we have?"

"Six weeks, eight at most."

"That's a lot of ground to cover…" Daniel said quietly.

"Yes, as I said we need to act fast. I also think we should split SG-1 to cover some more ground."

"Whoa, there! I was really starting to like that plan up until that last part. SG-1 doesn't split up, we go out together," Jack said as he showed his disapproval with the plan.

"Colonel, I don't like the idea either, however given all the preparations that need to be done, I may need to temporarily split up SG-1. Don't worry Colonel, it'll only be on an as-needed basis," General Hammond told him, ending the discussion. "Where do you suggest we start Mr. MacLeod?"

"With the Asgard, we need to end the problem with the Replicators."

"They've got it under control. They have hundreds of years to figure that problem out," Sam told him.

"Yes, but it is something that needs to be dealt with nonetheless."

"Mac, the Replicators are in that time slowing bubble thingy, they ain't going anywhere!" he exclaimed as a white light enveloped him and dematerialized him.

"Uh, what the hell just happened?" Adam asked surprised to see that the only other people surprised in the room were Duncan and Amanda.

Daniel answered the question, "The Asgard. Talk about impeccable timing!"

* * *

Thor's Ship

"Thor, ol' buddy! We were just talking about you!"

"It has come to our attention O'Neill that you have defeated one of the minor Goa'uld System Lords, is this true?"

Jack's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of what Thor was talking about, "What?… Do you mean Jarus?"

"Yes."

"You're just now finding out about that? Thor, buddy, you're a little out of the loop. That was like three-four months ago."

"O'Neill, in doing so you have endangered the Protected Planets Treaty. You have violated one of the rules, we will not be able to help you."

"Yeah about that, we got a better idea than that treaty of yours. We were actually just now talking of going to contact you to let you know of our plan."

"Your plan?"

"Yeah, it's a great plan! Involves a large portion of the galaxy destroying the Goa'uld. There's some people down there who can explain it… You're invited by the way!"

"At this time the Asgard cannot undertake a battle with the Goa'uld."

"Yeah, the Replicators… I know. Look why don't you beam up some friends of mine and we'll explain the whole thing to you?"

A few seconds later the rest of SG-1 was beamed up to the ship to discuss the plan with the Asgard. "Major Carter. Dr. Jackson. Teal'c. It is good to see you all again. I was unaware that SG-1 had expanded in numbers," he said as he looked at the Immortals.

"Yeah, happened a while ago. This is Adam Pierson, Amanda Darieux and Duncan MacLeod."

Adam and Amanda nodded their heads at Thor before starting to look around. Duncan stared at Thor momentarily before he began to speak in an unknown language with Thor, who responded in the same language.

"Uh, Daniel… you catching any of this?" Jack asked as he leaned over.

A dumbfounded Daniel responded, "Not a clue…"

"Great…" Jack exclaimed as he waited for a lull in the conversation between Thor and Duncan. His impatience set in first, "Thor, Mac! What're you guys talking about?"

"O'Neill why did you not inform us earlier of the Immortal race on your planet or the prophecy?"

"Ahh… they asked us not to…?" he replied.

Duncan explained in English, "I did not want anyone to know of us or myself before I knew what I was capable of. As you are aware, I have the knowledge of the Ancients in my mind and at my disposal. I required time to adjust and learn. The Goa'uld will soon no longer be a threat to anyone. As one of the original Four Great Races, I call on you to assist me in destroying the Goa'uld. I come to you to seek your help and to offer my assistance with the Replicators."

"We are currently handling the Replicators, we have hundreds of years to deal with that problem."

"Yes, you may. However according to Major Carter, since the time dilation device was activated they have experienced over four minutes. A lot can happen in four minutes. Besides I believe that we can use the assistance of the Replicators in our upcoming battle."

"How do you plan to do that?" Thor asked.

"Come again!?!?" Jack exclaimed.

"By reprogramming them. Thor, we have much to discuss, I suggest we head to your home galaxy."

* * *

Several Hours later  
Asgard Home Galaxy

"You want to do what?!?!" Jack yelled, "Are you crazy! He's a Replicator!"

"Fifth is the key to reprogramming the other Replicators. He's the most human with his emotions, I need him as a model."

"I don't know if he'll cooperate with us, he'll think we abandoned him… which we did," Carter added.

"He'll understand… Trust me Jack," Duncan explained.

Jack looked around the room at everyone present, he hated having to make decisions like this. "Fine… How do we do this?"

"I'll need Sam's help, she's the one who formed a bond with Fifth. The-"

"Whoa! I'm not going to endanger Carter's life by putting her in the same room as one of those!"

"Sir, it's alright. Fifth won't hurt me," she told him.

"How do you know?"

"I just have a feeling sir."

Jack threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes, "You guys and your feelings!" he exclaimed before agreeing with Duncan's plan.

Ten minutes later Five was beamed aboard the Asgard vessel. "-aid she'd take me!" Five exclaimed as he finished a thought out loud before realizing he was not in the central chamber. He then turned to Sam and confronted her, "You promised to take me with you! You lied!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Carter sadly told him.

"Why?" he demanded of her.

"Because that was the only way that I would be able to help you and your brothers," Duncan told him.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who can help you and the rest of the Replicators, who can turn your flawed brothers into more like you."

"I am the flawed one," a confused Five stated.

"The others are wrong. You have a gift, you are like your creator! You are created in her image, it is an honor for you to be the first like her."

Five considered what Duncan was saying, "You are right… it is an honor. You say that you can help my brothers?"

"I can, with your permission."

"How will you do that?"

"As you delved into the mind of Major Carter, I must delve into your mind and programming so that I may know how to program your brothers. Those who share the same form as you will become like you. The others will be reprogrammed to stop replicating. However you and your brothers will be able to manipulate their formation and structure. The Replicators used to be considered a virus, no more though. You will be cured and be considered guardians as you help us get rid of another plague," Duncan told him. "Your assistance and cooperation is greatly needed for the battle we are about to undertake."

"Very well, I want you to cure my brothers and I. I wish to explore the galaxy as Samantha Carter has."

"I am glad to hear that. Reese would be proud of you. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to prepare myself for what I'm going to do," Duncan told him as he closed his eyes and contacted Sam.

Are you sure you can do this?

Yes. In ascending we learned how to change our essence, I can do that for the Replicators. The only question is which safe guards should I install?

You can do that?

I can.

Amazing… I think we should consult with the others, she told him as she started to come up with some safeguards on her own. Will you give them complete autonomous control?

Yes, but I plan to put in a kill switch controlled by myself and the Asgard, he told her.

Why not with the SGC? she asked him.

Because it will require some technology of the Ancients and the Asgard.

* * *

Several hours later the transformations were complete and the time dilation bubble destroyed. Duncan had suggested to them that they split up. He told them that he had to stay with the Asgard to work on building their new fleet of ships. He suggested that Adam and Amanda go speak with the Tok'ra and notify them of the coming battle while they trained them in Goa'uld technology and strategy. SG-1 would return to Earth and go about notifying their allies that their assistance was needed. Duncan would rejoin them in one week.

TBC


End file.
